Putting It Together
by PrinceSoma
Summary: Continuing from "Reflections." Edna was real, but could she and Lilli truly have a happy ending?
1. Chapter 1

The van shook and rattled as it made it's way up the rocky mountain path, though it did little to disturb it's one passenger. Propped against the metal wall that separated the driver's seat and the hollow back of the vehicle, the dark-haired girl sat in silence as she was escorted to her destination.

Edna had been careless. She thought she would be able to simply sneak up on Marcel's goons, eavesdrop a little bit, and leave to reunite with Lilli. If she had heard anything that sounded dangerous, at least the two of them would be one step ahead.

But Edna had underestimated just how much the doctor had learned since last time. The guards were taking no chances at letting anyone escape their sight, and after getting too close for her own good, Edna misstepped and tumbled right into the river. Blinded by the headlights of their bus, she was easily overwhelmed by the two and restrained.

So here she was now, being taken back to the prison that had held her captive for so long: the asylum.

She _really_ wished she had found that flashlight and kettle drum now.

Edna could almost hear Harvey's voice cracking jokes about this predicament. _Looks like we're in for a real family reunion, huh Edna?_

Her stomach ached. If Harvey was here, he'd know what to say to get her optimistic again. Silly jokes kept her spirit up to keep going, and inane suggestions got her brain working to think up a real plan. When the two of them were together, nothing could stop them.

She tried to push the memories back. They were too painful to think of now. Instead, she focused on a different face that had filled in the spot where Harvey's used to be.

Lilli. Edna smiled as she remembered the games they would play together, and the bond they had formed over time. They were outcasts, ignored or hated by their peers, but as long as they had each other, nobody else mattered. They looked out for one another through thick and thin.

The van suddenly came to a halt, jolting her out of her thoughts. Bladder could be heard cursing loudly at the failing engine before both men got out of the front seats. Edna listened to their voices as they headed to the back of the vehicle.

 _"Damn thing's been acting up all night."_ Bladder was grumbling. _"I'm telling you, I can't take much more of this crap..."_

 _"Look on the bright side, man."_ His partner replied. His voice sounded like a bad impression of John Travolta. _"When the doc sees who we found, he's really gonna make it worth our while."_

 _"I still can't believe she's alive."_ Bladder said, and Edna could hear the click of the back door being unlocked before it swung open, and she could see the two peering in. "But... jeez, there she is. It's like looking at a ghost."

The other guard shuddered. "Don't say stuff like that, man!" He looked around nervously. "You know **he** might be out here somewhere..."

"Well if you're so scared, you can take her back by yourself." Bladder snapped as he walked back to the front of the van and popped open the hood. "I need to get this thing running again anyway."

Edna was removed from the vehicle and placed in a set of cuffs. For a brief moment she was able to get a look at her surroundings. The asylum was barely a hike away, and it loomed in the horizon like the gates of Hell itself. But a thought crept into her mind as she became more familiar with the dirt road they stood on.

Her eyes moved to look into the distance at the opposite mountain range. She remembered those times when she would stand by the swing tree and stare at the asylum, seeing a reflection of her old self looking back. Right now, she wanted nothing more than to see herself walking hand in hand with Lilli towards the convent, starting a new life together. If she could just have that small bit of comfort...

But there was only darkness.

 _"Lilli,"_ Edna whispered as she and her escort began walking towards their destination. _"Wherever you are... please help."_

* * *

For all the dread she had felt for this place, the asylum felt... _dead_ to Edna.

Everything was dark aside from a few lights here and there, but if you were to arrive without notice you'd swear the place had been abandoned by it's staff. As the girl and her lone orderly walked through the grounds, she could see dozens of inmates wandering freely without supervision.

Many simply shuffled around in circles, or stared blankly into space. Some of the more 'colorful' characters were occupied by their newfound freedom. The 'bartender' had transformed the front entrance to the building into a makeshift pub. As they headed to the back door, she recognized the distinct figure of Professor Nock digging through the zen garden with a trowel, muttering about velociraptor bones.

"This place is going to the dogs..." Her captor sighed.

The inside of the Asylum was even deader. There seemed to be no power at all, and was devoid of nearly all life. Not-Travolta marched Edna up the stairs, where she could hear the sound of familiar voices coming from the rec room, but there was no way to get a good look as she was continuously pushed forward.

They finally came to the third floor. The top of the tower in which the mad wizard had held the fair maiden prisoner. Though Edna laughed at the idea of being called fair or anybody referring to her as a maiden.

Her cell, the starting point of her grand adventure, still stood where it always had been. This time there was no Babbet guarding the thick steel door, just an empty chair. Like everything else, it all felt empty and lifeless to give off any feeling of power over her. But something caught the former occupant of the room's ear.

Behind the foot of solid metal, Edna could hear the faintest sound of humming. Was someone really in there? Or perhaps it was just a phantom of her memories resurfacing. A shudder went up her spine.

"So, what happened to Mr. Mini-Golf champ?" Edna finally spoke, hoping to change the subject.

Her escort was caught off guard by her sporadic timing. "Uh... oh, you mean Babbit. Yeah, he quit. You know what's funny? He really is a mini-golf champ now. Who'da thunk, right?"

Edna was baffled enough to have a response, but it died in her throat as her eyes fell on a portrait hanging on the right wall of the hallway. It showed a young boy, his brown hair neat and tidy, but his face was something only a mother could love, and he had a crude smile. The sight of him could bring tears to one's eyes, but not for the same reason they were forming in Edna's.

"Alfred..." She uttered softly.

The guard looked back and forth between her and the picture in puzzlement, but it clicked together in his mind pretty quick. He may not have been totally in the loop, but he remembered the story of why Edna had been locked away here in the first place through word of mouth.

He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly as Edna stared at the portrait for a good while. Truth be told, he always held a little sympathy for the girl. Even before his descent into utter insanity, Marcel's plan had always seemed... cruel.

But he didn't dwell on it for long. As sorry as he felt for Edna, he still had a job to do. Besides, he only knew things from rumors and biased view points. He didn't know anything nearly well enough to make it his business.

Still, it was only fair he try to ease her pain. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder, and while she didn't react, Edna certainly appreciated the gesture. He guided her down the hall, and soon they were facing their destination. Doctor Marcel's office.

With Alfred fresh in her mind, Edna was more terrified than ever.


	2. Chapter 2

The last time Ruben had ever seen the moon was when he was a child. Back then it held no significance towards him, but being locked under an asylum for most of your life makes you appreciate the natural beauty in things, and he certainly thought the moon was beautiful.

His cape bellowing in the wind, the cloaked figure peered down to watch for any strange activity. His eyes were well-adjusted to the dark, so he picked things up with near perfect ease.

He had been coming on to the roof every night since he'd managed to get out of his confines in the institution's underground quarry. Whenever the dreaded sun had set and no longer pained his sensitive eyes, he would awaken. From his perch he could see all of the world around him, lit by the comforting, yet empowering beams shining down from the orb above. He could see the shadows cast among the trees and the buildings, and he grinned beneath his paper-bag mask because they were _his_.

His name was carried by frightened whispers, of gossiping townsfolk and nervous orderlys. He was the sudden rush of wind in the trees. The thing that went bump in the night, the boogeyman, the metaphor that changes every episode.

He was The Phantom. Nobody, least of all his father, would ever bring him d-

 ***CRASH***

His foot slipped on a tile and he slid down the slanted edge of the roof, nearly falling a good thee stories down before he managed to grab on to the gutter.

Cursing under his breath, the phantom struggled to swing his leg over the side to hoist himself back up, only for it to continuously slip back off whenever he got a good hook. With a sigh, Ruben resorted to shimmying around the building until he reached the nearest window.

He had clambered into the open window of the supply closet when he heard the voices. Carefully, he crept to the door and opened it a crack. One of his father's men, he recognized, was knocking on the doctor's office door. Beside him was a scared looking young girl somewhere in her teens with long, black hair.

 _"I specifically asked not to be disturbed tonight."_ He could hear his father barking. The girl visibly flinched.

"Sorry boss, but, uh..." The man seemed unable to put together what he was trying to say. "We found somebody."

 _"Ah, so you've gotten the girl then. Excellent."_

"Err, about that..." He nervously scratched behind his neck. "It's a girl, but not the one you were looking for."

 _"Then what could you possibly be bothering me for?"_

"...You remember the kid you had locked up for ten years?"

He was met with a chilling silence.

Suddenly, Ruben dashed to the window, hoisting himself to the roof again. As quick as possible, he headed for the opening that led into the ventilation shaft. He had discovered this secret passage led directly to his father's office. From this point, he could listen in on the man's most private conversations, and had learned many things over the years. One of which had been of the girl who had killed his brother.

Crawling through the shaft as swiftly as he could, Ruben slowed himself as he came to the metal grate inside Marcel's office. Peering through the gaps, he could see his father in his wheelchair, face towards the window.

The door opened, and he listened closely.

* * *

Edna had expected that Dr. Marcel would look different, but the sight of him was still unnerving.

In the dark of the room she could make out the outline of his wheelchair. Though his back was turned to her, the girl could see the strap of an eyepatch over the gray curls of hair that was left on his head.

A chill went up her spine as the image of his mangled body at the bottom of the stairs flashed before her.

The doctor lit his pipe. The embers glowed as he inhaled deeply. He slowly blew a stream of smoke that rose above his head like a dark cloud before fading into the air.

"Sit."

Edna glanced at the cushy chair placed in front of the Marcel's desk. Cautiously, she took her seat, eyes drilling into the back of the old man's skull.

For an unbearable amount of time, the doctor was completely silent. He continued to stare out his window, every once in a while taking a long draw of his tobacco. Edna's mind was racing as she tried to think of what he could be planning.

"It's incredible."

Startled, she was brought back to reality and was paying full attention to Marcel. The man sighed long and hard before he began speaking again.

"When she said that it was _you_... I was certain that none of it was real. Just the product of a maladjusted child... But..."

He finally turned to face her directly. The look in his single eye seemed... distant, as if he were lost in his own world. Staring back, Edna couldn't help but feel similarly.

"You feel it as well." Marcel noticed. He spoke incredibly slow, processing each word in his head before speaking them. "It's as if... time... has reversed. Like... you were never gone in the first place... and that everything that has happened to us has all been just a dream... _yet_..."

He brought his hand to his face, caressing the soft leather that covered the dead organ beneath it. All at once, life seemed to return to him. His working eye formed into a glare so intense, it pierced through Edna like a knife, snapping her out of the daze and rooting her to the spot.

"No." Marcel growled. "Nothing has changed."

He turned away from her again to look out the window. Edna had so many things to say and so many questions to ask, but the words refused to come out of her mouth.

"No doubt you've noticed the change to your old home." Marcel said after a moment, a hint of amusement in his voice. "They are all like you, you know. They believe they are free. That they have escaped the rules and confinement that have kept them in line all their lives. But they only _think_ they are free."

He lit his pipe again as he watched the inmates scrambling about the grounds below. He blew a smoke ring into the glass.

"Deep down, they know what they are. Sick, disturbed, unbalanced... they will realize this on their own accord. Then they will long for the order and structure they once considered imprisonment. They will come to me, begging to be cured, to be _normal_ again."

He looked over his shoulder at Edna with a sickeningly smug grin. "Just like how you're here now."

 _You're wrong_ , She thought furiously, her grip on the armrests tightening. _You're dead wrong, you demented geezer._

Dr. Marcel must have seen the anger in her eyes, because he began to laugh.

"You think I'm mistaken, don't you?" He stated haughtily. "I expected as much. Oh, Edna... you'll never change." His face formed a crude sneer. "You _killed my son_. You ran amok my institution causing chaos. You **crippled** me. You ran away to cause more mischief in a holy place, and you poisoned the mind of an innocent child-"

 _"Leave her out of this!_ " Edna suddenly managed to find her voice. "Lilli has nothing to do with anything between us!"

"On the contrary," Marcel responded, unfazed and putting his hands together in a tent shape. "She has nearly _everything_ to do with our situation. You see, Lilli revealed a lot to me during her... 'interrogation.'"

Edna was about to interject again, but Marcel beat her to the punch.

"I know about your friendship. The way she leaped to your aid when trouble arose." He shook his head sadly. "If only she knew the consequences of her actions... but _your_ influence had been firmly set in her mind by that point."

Edna stared in bemusement. What in the world was he talking about?

"But even before all that, I knew what had to be done. It didn't matter if you were real or not. I couldn't take any risks." He continued, a hint of pride in his voice. "I began my new therapy immediately. It was an extraordinary success, if I do say so myself... Lilli made for a _fantastic_ test subject."

Without even looking, he could feel the unbridled fury coming from the girl behind him. He knowingly smirked to himself.

"I swear, Marcel..." Her voice was low and dangerous. "If you hurt a single HAIR on her head...!"

"Do calm yourself, my dear. Lilli is fine." Marcel said, narrowing his eyes at the thought. "The old hag's timely breakdown allowed her to worm her way out of the convent. Just when I was about to get more information from both of them too."

He let out a frustrated grunt, balling his hand into a fist. "I don't know how she keeps doing it. The restriction blocks I placed on her should be hindering her every move!"

Edna was somewhat relieved that Lilli DID manage to escape. But the doctor wasn't going to relent on catching her and turning her into his puppet. He wasn't intimidated by threats, and since he had wisely locked his polo mallets in a glass case, Edna had no other alternative than to make an attempt at reasoning with him.

"You have me." She said. "I'm the one you truly want. Lilli hasn't done anything to deserve any of this."

"Oh, _please_." Marcel turned his chair around again, sporting his ever-popular, condescending 'I'm smarter than you' look while taking another puff of his pipe. "You know better than to insult my intelligence, Edna. You're honestly going to sit there and act like you truly care about Lilli?"

Edna was flabbergasted. "Hell yes I care about her! She's my best friend!" She cried.

"Then why did you abandon her?"

She caught her breath sharply. "W-What?"

Marcel refused to take his eyes off her. "If she means that much to you, why did you hide while she scurried about the convent, cleaning up _your_ messes? Why did you leave when she was in just as much danger as you were? Explain to me, Edna, how exactly have you been such a good friend when all you've done is _run away and let Lilli be the one to face your perceived hardships?!_ "

Edna sat in a stunned silence. Dr. Marcel waited as she repeatedly opened her mouth to contradict him, only for it to snap shut as his words left her completely floored.

She had to say _something!_ Marcel couldn't be right... could he?

"We... We're a team... We look out for each other..." She retorted, so obviously weak that not even she was convinced of herself. Marcel's unimpressed snort said the same of him.

"Is that so?" He said in a mocking tone. "That's unfortunate..."

Edna raised an eyebrow. "Why is that...?"

A huge, malicious grin spread across his face. "Because I know somebody who'll be _very_ disappointed to hear that."

He opened a drawer to his desk, taking something out and placing it between them. Edna's heart nearly stopped dead in her chest. Her eyes widened into saucers as they fell upon the plush toy now sitting before her.

"H... Harvey...?"

Dr. Marcel chuckled, petting the stuffed bunny on the head. "I bet you thought you lost your little friend forever, didn't you?" He asked, fiddling with one of Harvey's ears. "He was in quite a bad state when he was brought to me. Torn limbs, most of his stuffing gone... it took ages to put him back together."

Edna's mouth remained hanging open, quivering lightly as a choking noise escaped her throat. Marcel was absolutely reveling in the moment.

"What... What did you...?" She tried to ask, too shocked to speak. The wide, goofy eyes Harvey normally had were now gone, replaced by a set of beady red plastic ones. Over his left one was a long scar-like stitch.

Marcel grinned again. "Here," He said, taking Harvey. "Allow me to give you a demonstration of my newfound therapy."

He took hold of a cord in the middle of the ragdoll's stomach and gave it a pull. Harvey's eyes began flashing as a grainy recording began to play.

" **You must not contradict adults** ," It said lifelessly. " **You must not lie. You must not play with fire. You must not use sharp objects. You must not...** "

"No..." Edna whispered as the doll went on, droning a long list of rules that the real Harvey would never consider willingly. Doctor Marcel began shaking with excitement.

"It's quite ironic," He said, beaming at his accomplishment. "The very thing that made you what you are will now save thousands- no, _millions_ of children from ever misbehaving again! It all starts right here with you and Lilli, Edna! Everything's come full circle!"

Edna continued to stare in horror as the deluded old man began cackling, manically hugging her beloved Harvey to his chest. She bit her lip, fighting back tears as her whole body trembled.

"Oh, don't look so _sad_ my dear," Marcel said with about as much sincerity as an obnoxiously chipper narrator. "Everything's going to be alright. Soon you'll be together again with Harvey and Lilli, forever happy and courteous... right after you..."

His hand moved under the blanket on his lap.

" _Go to sleep_."

Edna only caught a glimpse of light reflecting off the metal object in his hand before the immense pain of a hundred lightning bolts made everything go black.

* * *

It felt immeasurably good to bring Edna back to her cell. Many times Marcel had pictured himself doing it, always feeling disillusioned in the end with the reminder that the symbol of his hate was long dead. Yet here he was now, triumphantly dragging her inanimate body by a clump of her violet-black hair. It felt _glorious_. Even the portrait of Alfred on the wall looked radiant, as if he were a war hero making his procession through the rank and file.

He unlocked the door to her cell and pulled it open. The feeling of pride continued to swell in his chest at the sight of dozens upon dozens of freshly-knitted Harvey dolls.

"Doctor...?" A weary voice spoke to his right. "How good to see you again!"

Marcel smirked, looking at the familiar old woman huddled in the corner of the room. She was currently in the middle of knitting another rabbit when she stopped to greet him.

"Indeed it is, Ignatz." Marcel replied to his latest 'patient.' He picked up one of the dolls to inspect it. "I see you've been very hard at work helping me with my project."

"Oh yes, doctor." The former mother superior replied in an almost comatose-like state. "I've never felt more happy before in my life... I can't thank you enough..."

He chuckled, patting her on the head. "It's my job to help wayward children find the light, dear. And now with your help, we'll be able to help many children all over the world."

"Ahh, Doctor Marcel," She swooned. "You do The Lord's work... much better than I ever did..."

"I do my best." He said, puffing up his chest. "Though there IS a child you can help at the moment."

"Really?" The old woman asked hopefully.

Dr. Marcel proceeded to unceremoniously toss Edna's limp form into the room.

"This girl is so lost and confused, we needed to put her to sleep just to calm her down." He said. "I'm afraid she'll need to be restrained if I'm to ever get through to her."

"Oh..." Mother Superior put a hand to her chest, looking at Edna pitifully. "The poor ch... child..." She leaned in a little closer. Even in her broken state, she faintly recognized the girl from somewhere.

"I was hoping you could use your impeccable embroidery skills to... bind her, as much as it pains me to say." He lied through his teeth. "I trust you to make it so she's secure, but comfortable."

"Of course, doctor!" She responded, gleefully nodding her head. "I'll begin right away! Oh, bless you, Doctor Marcel!"

"I shall leave you to your work." Marcel began backing his chair out of the padded room as Mother Superior scooped Edna into her arms. "Such a good girl you are..."

Slamming the door behind him, Marcel turned away in disgust. "Pah! Addled idiot."

He headed back to his office. There was much planning he still had to do. An idea had formed in his mind, though he needed much time to ruminate on it before he was certain it would work.

There was a lot he needed to think about. Especially considering another factor that suddenly hindered him.

When he returned to his office, Harvey had vanished from his desk.


	3. Chapter 3

"OUTTA MY WAY, OUTTA MY WAY!"

"HE'S RIGHT BEHIND US, MAN!"

Marcel's men tore through the woods, feeling in terror from the specter closing in on them. They ran as fast as their legs could carry them, neither daring to look behind.

They soon burst from the thicket into a small clearing, at which they realized that the phantom who had been chasing them was nowhere in sight. The two men stopped to catch their breath, still shaking in terror.

"I don't believe it...!" Bladder wheezed as he plopped down on a barren stump. "It was really him...!"

"This whole night's been _nuts_ , man!" His cohort said, resting his hands on his knees. "I don't think I can take much more of it..."

"Me neither." Bladder grumbled plaintively. "My wife was right; I shoulda quit like Babbet and Hulgor and all the others. None of this is worth the money anymore!"

His friend nodded. "You know what? We oughta go find the cops right now and tell them everything. Connections be damned, I've had it with putting up with Marcel thinkin' I'm gonna get something outta it. The only reward we got was getting the piss scared out of us by..."

He stopped, sniffing the air. His face wrinkled in disgust.

"Speaking of which..." He coughed, waving his hand over his nose. "Jeez, Bladder, he really scared it outta you..."

Bladder snorted defensively. "You seriously think that's me? Do you even remember where my nickname comes from?"

"But... if that ain't _you_... then who could...?"

A ferocious squeal filled the air, causing the men to freeze in place. They slowly turned to see an absolutely massive boar stepping into their sights. It had two enormous tusks jutting from it's maw, and from the look in it's eyes it wasn't happy to see these two intruders in it's territory.

A new smell filled the air as the men clutched one another in wide-eyed panic.

"That was me." Bladder whimpered pitifully.

* * *

"Come on, come on, pick up already!"

For the third time, Gerret smacked the side of the aged payphone in a futile attempt to get it working properly. The only working public telephone in town had sat unused for an undisclosed amount of time rusting and gathering cobwebs.

"Stupid backwater town..." He grumbled over the monotonous dial tone. "Only thing more broken than their appliances are the idiots running the place."

Finally, a connection was made as the other end began ringing. It faded in and out, ready to die at any second, but it was something. Gerret fidgeted impatiently as he glanced up at the asylum perched on the mountainside.

" _Hello?_ " A deep voice Gerret recognized answered, albeit fuzzy and barely audible.

"Phelps!" The junior investigator breathed in relief. "Thank god. I haven't got much time."

" _Gardengore?!_ " The voice responded, taken aback. " _Muthaf... man, where have you been? What the HELL are you doing?_ "

"It's a long story." Gerret said. "I'll explain everything later. For now, I need you to send backup-"

There was a loud burst of static, cutting him off. When it died down, Phelps was in the middle of yelling.

" _...ALWAYS pullin' this crap, man! You're too young to be playing this loose canon bull!_ "

"Phelps, listen!" Gerret snapped. "I've got a huge lead on Doctor Marcel! I've tried to get the local police to back me up, but-"

" _They're all here!_ " Phelps interrupted again. " _Jesus man, this was YOUR post! Do you have any idea what's going on at all?!_ "

Gerret paused. "Wait... what are you talking about? Why's everyone at the convent? Phelps, what happened?"

There was a brief silence.

" _...I was called in about a few hours ago,_ " Phelps voice sounded forlorn. " _Since your ass wasn't there. Marcel's the least of your problems now_."

"Why?" Gerret demanded. "For god's sake, tell me why!"

" _The kids are dead, Gardengore._ "

Gerret caught his breath. "What do you mean, dead?"

" _Police have been up here since sundown_." Phelps continued. " _Got a call from a crazy-ass lunchlady, hollering 'bout how it wasn't her fault this time. God damn, man, it was a nightmare when I got there_."

Gerret remembered Doris and her... _unbridled_ passion for children. He knew it would have only been a matter of time before she finally lost it. It was stupid of him to not take her seriously enough to send any reports.

"Did she do it?" He asked, rubbing his forehead in anticipation of the incoming migraine.

" _Took her in for questioning._ " His cohort answered. " _We were gonna take the Mother Superior too, on account of how she was losing her goddamn mind when they found her. All our suspicions seemed correct._ "

"So why didn't you?" Gerret pressed, though he had a feeling he knew the answer.

" _Marcel was there too._ " Phelps said gruffly. " _He was in the middle of some kinda therapy session with 'er when the boys showed up. Since the Chief Deputy in charge of that spot had vanished, they had to call me to question them instead. But when I got there, they told me Marcel had taken 'er into his custody under an insanity plea!_ "

"They're all idiots." Gerret said, sighing. "But I suppose I'm an even bigger one."

Phelps paused again, before responding in a much more sympathetic tone, " _If it makes you feel any better, further investigation shows that most of them were clearly accidents._ "

"It doesn't matter." The youth investigator grumbled dejectedly. "I was in charge of keeping those children safe from this kind of thing. Instead I got caught up playing secret agent when I should've been opening up to let them trust me."

It was too bad the bartender at the local pub had unexpectedly dropped dead. Gerret really needed a drink at that moment. Still, there was no time for moping. The signal was getting weaker, and Gerret still had two kids left he could save.

"You still there?" He asked.

 _"I'm here, man."_

"Listen," He said quickly. "Can you convince the police that Marcel holds no authority over them?"

 _"Been trying since I got here. I swear, they're all incompetent..."_

"If the sheriff's reaction was anything to go by, I think there's a little more to it than that." Gerret said, recalling an ineffectual meeting from earlier. "But not by much. Either way, they won't have a choice but to act."

 _"Why?"_

"Not all the children died. Two of them managed to escape, one of which with my assistance." Gerret spoke louder as the wind picked up, rattling the machine and causing more static. "She's alright, but the other one was taken by Doctor Marcel! And if my guess is correct, she's-!"

" _Gardengore?_ " Phelps voice was fading out fast. " _Gerret! Can you hear me?_ "

"Phelps? Oh, no!" Gerret cursed under his breath as he struggled to keep the wind from jolsting the booth any further. "No no no no no, not yet!"

The line went dead, leaving nothing but a flickering tone that eventually conked out. Gerret rapidly clicked the receiver, desperately trying to get it working again, to no avail. He groaned loudly in frustration, kicking the machine bitterly.

"Dammit!" He yelled, rubbing his temples furiously. "Alright, alright, take it easy, Gardengore. Just calm down and think."

He began to pace back and forth, letting his thoughts out verbally as he usually did.

"If I sprint for it, I can make it back to the convent to meet with Phelps in person." He muttered. "Once I've explained everything, we can rendevous with Lilli... though come to think of it, maybe I should've brought her with me."

He glanced back at the direction he came. "No doubt her devotion to her friend might have inclined her to disobey my instructions and go on ahead without me. She could be going through all kinds of traumatizing events. Marcel very likely could have gotten his hands on her at this point and subjected her to a lobotomized shell of her former self, slated forever to act as a drooling servant to a deranged lunatic!"

There was a long pause.

"I suppose _that_ would be enough to lock Marcel away for life." He stated bluntly, putting a hand to his chin in contemplation. "But... no, I've let enough children die on my watch today. Those two are counting on me!"

He was about to take his first step back towards the school, when a grating voice above him suddenly spoke.

" **You must not contradict adults. You must not...** "

"No, stop! Agh, stupid rabbit!"

Gerret stopped, blinking in confusion before casting his eyes upward. There, sitting on the top of the telephone pole, was a man with a paper bag on his head covered by a long purple cloak. He was holding a stuffed rabbit in his hands, frantically trying to keep it quiet.

Their eyes met. The two stared at each other unblinking for a long, awkward moment.

"Uhh..." The man finally said. "Goodnight."

Before he blacked out, the last thing Gerret saw was the sole of a sneaker about to connect with his face.

* * *

 **A/N:** _I blame Undertale for this taking so long to get done. Also, Happy New Year!_


	4. Chapter 4

Once again, Edna struggled to free herself from the cocoon of fabric encapsulating her to the wall. She pulled with all her might, but the layers of wool were just too thick for her to tear through. With a defeated grunt, she slumped back down. She glanced over at the Mother Superior. The old nun was tirelessly knitting rabbit after rabbit, never stopping for a single moment.

"Mother Superior?" Edna called to her for the third time. "Please, you've got to snap out of it..."

The woman simply continued to stare at her work with a wide, plastered grin on her face. Edna was losing patience quickly.

"Hey, granny." She sniped. "Get a grip, will ya?"

Mother Superior continued to ignore her, humming a little hymn under her breath.

"Or not." Edna grumbled. The situation seemed pretty hopeless. Though her hands were exposed, their movement was too limited for her to reach anything. To her left, she could see the padded ventilation shaft she had used in her daring escape, the rip mended and patched. She was completely immobile with no chance whatsoever to free herself.

She could see now why the nun was so meticulous when it came to embroidery.

Just then, the door swung open. Edna glared at Doctor Marcel as he wheeled himself inside, staring at her with smug amusement.

"Well," He said. "The old dear has certainly made you comfortable."

"Eat me, grandpa."

He waved a finger derisively, clicking his tongue. "Such a tongue, Edna! Well, we wont be dealing with that for long, will we?"

"You really think this is gonna work, Marcel?" She asked humorlessly.

"Will WHAT work, child?"

Edna gestured around the room to the best of her ability. "This. Me. Lilli, Harvey, all of it! You can't really think you're going to pull this off! The police will catch on eventually."

"Pah!" Marcel scoffed. "I've had the police under my thumb for years. I didn't get where I am today without being able to cover my tracks."

The image of her father appeared for a moment in Edna's mind. She wondered if her aim was good enough to spit in Marcel's face from where she was hanging.

"Besides," Marcel continued in his self-satisfied manner . "They can't do anything to me anyway. If you did call the police, what would you even tell them?"

Edna thought for a moment, before answering. "I'd tell them the truth."

Marcel laughed loudly. "The truth!" He exclaimed. "WHAT truth? That you were the one who killed Alfred Marcel? That you attacked the boy's father, leaving him permanently disabled? That you assisted a criminal in escaping from his prison, thus allowing him to murder a man of the cloth?"

She stared at him coldly, as if looking right into his very soul.

"The truth," She said softly. "That a little girl caused a terrible tragedy. The truth that while it was clearly an accident, a certain therapist was looking to lock her away for life."

The smile vanished from Marcel's face entirely.

"The truth that the girl's father didn't have to take the fall." She continued. "The truth that he did it anyway, to save her from the doctor's power. The truth that the doctor went back on his word and had an innocent man given the death penalty. The truth that the little girl was taken by the doctor and locked away for ten years of her life, to have her head experimented on like a lab animal."

His hands were clenching the end of his wheelchair. This time, she looked at him smugly.

"The truth, Doctor." She said. "Is that you're just a sad, delusional fruitcake who torments children to get back at them for your crappy life."

In spite of being bound, Edna felt a sense of triumph as she looked down on Marcel, who was red with fury. He swerved his chair around sharply towards the exit.

"You," He growled. "Are going to be fixed, Edna Konrad. Once an for all."

The large door shut behind him with an ominous bang.

* * *

Lilli wretched again as the contents of her stomach emptied into the filthy bowl before her.

The bile burned her throat and caused her eyes to water, but they'd already been wet with tears well before she made it to the bathroom. The image of her dead schoolmates, frozen in permanent states of their final agonizing moments, was forever burned into her consciousness. As was the horrible truth she now realized.

After several minutes, it was finally over. Lilli slumped against the side of the toilet, breathing softly. Her whole body was shaking.

"Do you feel alright, little girl?"

She didn't hear the voice of the laundry man outside the bathroom stall. Her mind was racing with new images, the ones that had once been covered with cheery pink paint. Their crushed, maimed, asphyxiated corpses had always been right there, and she had never once noticed. The thought churned her stomach once again. She choked as the saliva filled her mouth, but there was nothing left inside to come out no matter how much it was trying to. All she could do was spit until it all stopped.

Lilli never wanted to hurt them. In spite of all the constant harassment and condescending detriment, she never wanted this. All she ever wanted was for her peers to accept her.

But what if she didn't? Perhaps deep down, there was a hatred. One that had been pushed far, far into the little girl's mind that festered and grew and grew until it forced itself out in the only way it could. So convinced was Lilli that she wanted to be friends with these awful people, the hatred disguised itself. Funny little gnomes happily blinding her from what her scorn was doing to them.

No, that couldn't be true. It just couldn't! They were only accidents, she was just trying to help her best friend...

Something dawned on her.

"Little girl? Hello?"

Lilli lifted herself from the grimy bathroom floor as best as her little legs could. Taking a breath, she stepped out of the stall and faced the weird man waiting for her in the corner.

"Erm... are you okay?" He asked, shyly twiddling his thumbs. "I was worried, you know..."

In truth, she wasn't even listening. Her thoughts were all on one person.

Doctor Marcel. If it hadn't been for him, none of this would've happened. If he had never come to the convent, Lilli would've never had to help Edna escape. Her friends would be alive, and everything would be fine. Even if their deaths were accidents, he was the catalyst that lead to it. She remembered Edna's stories about the things he'd done, the people he'd hurt. He was a monster, and the world was better off without him.

Lilli knew what she had to do.

Silently, she regarded the Laundry Man for a brief moment. Then she turned to the exit, and slipped out to rejoin the others waiting for her. The Laundry Man, still puzzled and concerned, sat quietly as the look on the child's face stuck with him.

"Brr... Am I crazy, or did it just get colder in here?"


	5. Chapter 5

The first thing Gerret noticed when he came to was the throbbing pain in his head. The second was the inability to move any of his arms or legs, and the third was the reason for that. Looking down, he saw a face he wasn't accustomed to seeing without a constant grimace of revulsion plastered across it. Mother Superior was probably the happiest Gerret had ever seen her, and judging by the way her pupils dilated, it wasn't a conscious decision. Neither was her rapid-fire knitting that was confining him to the wall.

"Rise and shine, darling." A chirpy voice from the side snarked. "Breakfast is ready."

He turned to see a brunette girl he recognized immediately. "You!"

"You yourself." Edna retorted. "I have to say, the irony of your situation is pretty satisfying to witness."

"What are you talking about?"

Edna simply rolled her eyes. She had been dealing with people treating her like she was an idiot all night, and quite frankly she was sick of it. Gerret decided waiting for an answer wasn't worth it and began struggling to break free.

"Don't bother," Edna said. "Mother Superior takes anything involving needles, thread, and yarn about as seriously as a politician takes fabricating the truth."

"Poor little children... The doctor will fix everything..." Mother Superior muttered as she finished Gerret's cocoon. She immediately turned back to her corner and continued to knit her rabbits, which the young officer was noticing for the first time.

"What IS this?" He asked. "Hannibal Lector's toy store?"

"I'll take a charismatic cannibal over Doctor Marcel any day."

Gerret was hoping Edna wouldn't say something like that. "So this is the asylum. Fantastic."

"Make yourself at home," Edna continued to prod him. "Shall I put on a pot of coffee? Something to eat? We could all have some tea with Mother Superior!"

"Are you done?"

"I have a vintage record collection. Tchaikovsky or Rachmaninoff?"

" _Are you done?_ "

"You're right, too presumptuous. How about Coolio? Bob Marley? Weird Al Yancovic?"

He looked about ready to chew through his strands just to strangle her. Edna stuck her tongue out cheekily. With everything going on at the moment, this was great stress relief.

Gerret took a deep breath. "Listen," He said. "We need to figure out how to get out of here. Lilli's still out there and she needs our help!"

" _Our_ help?" Edna said incredulously. "What are you gonna do, find out where she is just so you can rat her out for being out past her bedtime?"

"Rat her-?!" Gerret stammered, confused as ever. He sighed again, wishing his hands were free so he could pinch his forehead. Finally, he looked back at her. "Alright, here's the deal. I don't know who you think I am, but there's obviously a lot you don't understand, and there's plenty I don't understand either. If we're going to help Lilli we need to be able to trust each other, okay?"

Edna stared at him suspiciously for a moment. She looked over at the Mother Superior, still docile, and then back to Gerret. She considered it for a second.

"Okay," She said finally. "It's not like I have much choice anyway. But if you're being honest with me, we have to shake on it to make it official."

Gerret blinked.

"Oh, right." Edna remembered, looking down at her bindings. "Well, we can work with it. We'll just tongue-shake."

She attempted to lean over, her tongue poking out of the side of her mouth. Gerret stared at her blankly.

 _You really know how to pick them, Lilli_ , He thought. He answered the brunette curtly. "That wont be necessary. But you might as well put that thing to good use and start talking."

"Fine," Edna said, sticking her drying mouthpiece back in. "But you've got to spill some of your secrets too."

"Fair enough."

"Well, let's start at the beginning." She cleared her throat. "Hello, nice to meet you, blah blah blah, I'm Edna."

"My full name is Gerret Gordon Gardengore." He said, before adding, " _Officer_ Gerret Gardengore."

She looked stunned. "You're a _cop_?"

His eyes shifted for a second, before he said in a quiet voice, "You might want to get used to surprises."

* * *

To tell the truth, Reuben had been making it up as he went.

At the moment, he was hiding in the shadows behind the gate of the second floor hallway. He made sure to keep a tight grip on the thread he had tied around the rabbit, which was laying sprawled out in the open just beyond the bars. At any moment, the girl could appear. She'd see the rabbit. She would then try to take it, and he'd grab her, and then...

And then... what?

"And then I show her to dad." He uttered, as if trying to rationalize his not very thought-out plan.

 _Yes, but then what?_

"I... I suppose I'll tell him it was me that dropped off the policeman at his door." He continued to whisper back at his thoughts. He was used to having arguments with himself. "I'll tell him who's really been helping him all this time. He wont be able to ignore me after that."

 _But you hate him, don't you? Don't you resent him for what he did to you?_

"Yes... well, no... I just..." He struggled to come up with an answer. "I'm... I-I just want to show him that he was wrong!"

 _So you want him to admire you. To acknowledge your validity._

"I'm showing him who's the boss."

 _What do you REALLY want from him, Reuben?_

"Shut UP!" He snarled, finally getting the thought out his head. At that moment, one of the hallways doors opened. He knelt sharply, bringing his cape around to shroud himself in the dark, and kept his grip on the string firm. A small figure emerged, wearing a bright pink bow in her yellow hair. It was her!

He watched with baited breath as she saw the rabbit. Curiously, she approached. Once she was just in reach, Reuben tugged the string lightly, dragging the rabbit closer to the doors. A look of surprise came over the girl's face. Anyone else would've seen this as a sign to leave, but she followed the toy, reaching to take it again. He pulled it through the door, letting it's head rest right between two bars. The child grunted in frustration, stepping right up to the grate.

Like a predator on the hunt, Reuben had her in the blink of an eye. In a flash, he yanked Harvey back into his hand, simultaneously lunging at the girl. She barely had time to cry out in fear as his hand grabbed her neck in a matter of seconds.

Reuben cackled giddily at his success. "Surprised to see me again?" He taunted, remembering full well his trip on the ladder.

Wide-eyed with fear, the girl squirmed to free herself from his grasp. Underneath the mask, Reuben was almost too amused. Seeing her trapped by his hand was cathartic in a lot of ways.

"Yes, keep kicking..." He hissed. "You wont escape me again. Now hold still while I figure out what to do with you."

 _You STILL don't know what you're doing?_

This shouldn't have been so difficult. He had just decided to take the girl to his father. But he hesitated as his own inner turmoil kept wracking his brain. Distracted, he didn't notice the child reach out to pull the string on the rabbit's belly.

 _You say you want to show dad who's the boss, but if that were really the case, why are you helping him? Wouldn't it make more sense if you were helping her?_

No, his plan made sense. He was luring his father into a false sense of accomplishment. It was a good plan.

 _Why don't you stop making excuses and just admit it._

He wasn't listening. Tra la la. Just push it back into the dark corner it came from. Tra la la.

 _The truth is you don't hate dad at all._

Stop thinking. Take the girl. Stop THINKING.

 _You're trying to reach out to him._

STOP.

 _Because secretly you're a scared little boy who wants daddy to love y-_

His self-conflict was interrupted by a flash of white. He snapped back to reality just in time to notice the object the girl had pulled from nowhere. It took a second for Reuben to realize that she was holding what appeared to be a chair leg, the end broken off into a sharp point.

Which she was aiming right at his face.

* * *

"So you _are_ Edna Konrad."

Edna watched Gerret pensively as he processed the story that had just been laid out for him. He had an almost enlightened look on his face.

"I had a hunch, but I never bothered looking into it." He said. "But if what you're telling me is true, this changes everything. The night you escaped opened up a lot of doors regarding the Mattis Konrad incident. That was well before my time, but I read the case records after your escape went public."

He glanced over at the former head of the convent. "I was sent to this town because I was supposed to watch Mother Superior, but also because Doctor Marcel lived close by. Your case sparked an investigation that's continued to last even after it was technically closed. There was just too much that didn't add up."

He looked at her. "I can't say for certain, but the mere fact that you're alive is going to be a massive blow against Marcel. When I relay all this to my colleagues, it's going to flip them on their heads."

"That's great," Edna finally said, staring at him half-lidded. "Except the doctor is probably going to liquefy our brains before any of that can past these walls."

"Hmm... that's true." He grumbled. "If we can't come up with anything, Lilli just might be our only hope."

"I hope she's alright..." Edna sighed glumly. "She's too sweet to have to go through all this..."

"...You don't think she could've gotten caught, do you?"

"Nah, she's too smart for that." Edna said, brightening back up a little. "Plus, I taught her everything she knows about sneaking past authority."

She smirked at his frown. "Hey, you know how Mother Superior is... or was. Besides, weren't you supposed to be spying on her so she _wasn't_ mistreating us?"

"Marcel arrived before I could finalize my reports." Gerret explained. "Had she not decided to call him, Mother Superior would've been arrested for multiple charges of child abuse."

Irony just loved to follow Edna around, didn't it? However, as much as Edna hated the old crone, looking at her now in her demented state only filled the girl with pity... and, as much as it pained her, empathy.

"Maybe if we do get out of here, we can get her some help. Some real help." Edna said softly, recalling the place she had called home for close to a year. "Maybe we can help all of them. Those other kids may be jerks, but not even they deserve..."

Her voice trailed off. Gerret, who's face was already deathly serious to begin with, was looking into space with an ominous visage of unease. He slowly faced her, swallowing a lump in his throat.

"There's something I need to tell you." He said in a low tone. "Your friends... the others at the convent... they..."

Suddenly, they were interrupted by the sound of keys clanking. The two swiveled their heads towards the heavy door of the cell as someone on the other side began to unlock it. Even Mother Superior stopped her knitting for a second. The door slowly pushed open.

An overwhelming sense of relief washed over the two captives as, instead of Doctor Marcel or a strange man in a cape, a familiar little girl made herself present.

"Lilli!"

 **A/N** : _I goofed here. The segment with Reuben should've happened last chapter, before the scene with Lilli in the bathroom. I guess you can count it as a flashback or something. Anyway, we're in the final stretch! Everything after this chapter should be relatively easier to write since, in all honesty, I had no idea where I was going with Reuben's story for a long time. Here's hoping you'll be seeing another chapter in the near future!_


	6. Chapter 6

Doctor Marcel wasn't as confident as he would have liked anyone to believe.

He stared out his window, deep in contemplation as he rapidly puffed from his pipe. His hand twitched against the wood of his chair. It was all he could do to settle his nerves. Earlier he had gone out to check on Edna again, only to find a young man laying unconscious at his door. Puzzled, the doctor inspected him, and his blood ran cold upon finding the officer's badge in his inner jacket.

The message was clear: the police were finally coming after him. The REAL police, not the local morons he could play like a fiddle.

His mind was racing with questions he didn't have answers for, when his concentration was suddenly broken by the sound of someone wailing. He could hear it coming down the hall, closer and closer to where his office was. The sound of shuffling, stumbling feet accompanied the grunts and whimpers he slowly started to recognize.

 _"Help..."_ It cried faintly. _"It hurts... someone help...!"_

Marcel's brow furrowed. Why now, of all times? He was in the middle of a crisis.

A sharp bang on his door startled him. _"Dad...?"_ The voice called wearily. Another bang. _"Dad, it's me! I'm hurt!"_

The doctor clenched his eyes shut, mentally preparing a routine he'd done time and time again. It was simply trauma, nothing more. He just needed to breath, and remain focused on now. The past was in the past, and nothing could change it.

 _"I'm hurt!"_ It cried again. _"Please, open the door! Please, father!"_

"The past is in the past." Marcel whispered to himself, starting to breath funny. "They're both gone. Alfred is gone. Reuben is gone. You need to let go."

 _"LET ME IN!"_ The voice roared suddenly, the banging on the door increasing at a furious rate, almost as if something was trying to break it down. _"LET ME IN, YOU SON OF A BITCH!"_

Marcel began to tremble. "It's not happening. There's nothing there. Control yourself, Horatio. There is nothing there."

" _LET ME IN! LET ME_ _ **IN**_ _!_ " The voice continued to scream, until it broke with the sound of a sob choking through. "WHY WONT YOU LET ME IN...?!"

He heard the voice break into tears, followed by a soft thump of something falling to the floor. Marcel's heart was pounding. He could hear the ghost crying for a good number of minutes. It would stop. He knew eventually it would fade away. He just kept concentrating.  
The crying dissolved into a series of sniffles. After that, a single "thump" against his door, and it was done. Silence had returned.

Dr. Marcel let out a long sigh of relief. He took out a handkerchief to wipe away the sweat that had accumulated on his brow.

After all that, he decided that he had done enough worrying for one night.

* * *

"The oven seems to be made of Kevlar, which would explain why it was able to contain the explosion to such an extent that it didn't blow up the entire school itself." Junior Officer Kornelia Katzenburg noted, shining her flashlight inside the dark chasm of what remained of the convent's stove. She was a stout woman with short brown hair that parted in the middle, allowing a stray set of bangs to cover one of her eyes. Even in the dark, one could make out the number of freckles that dotted her face.

Her companion, and the one she was relaying all this too, stood in the corner listening carefully. The only light coming from him was the flashlight's reflection off his bald, black head. For whatever reason, he wore a set of sunglasses despite the fact that it was the dead of night. Anybody else would look like a moron, but somehow Philipp Phelps managed pull of looking totally badass.

Yes, everybody in this division has alliterative names. Yes, it's a total convenience.

"Bombs buried in the garden, carnivorous termites, that lunch lady..." Phelps shook his head in disgust. "Why the hell didn't we shut this place down years ago?"

"Where the hell was _Gerret_ during all this?" Kornelia asked, picking a few hair samples from the broken casing. The whole cellar still reeked of guts and whatever else was left of Memphis, yet not once did she bat an eye. "I thought this was his station."

"You know how he is." Phelps grumbled. "He thinks he can do everything by himself. Well, it came back to bite 'em in the ass this time."

"You gotta admire his tenacity." Kornelia quipped. She picked up what looked like the remains of a perfectly intact finger bone and stared at it in fascination. "Besides, you told me he's got some kind of lead on Marcel. That makes Gerret closer to catching the bastard than either of us ever have."

Phelps said nothing, but even he begrudgingly had to admit that Gerret put more energy into his work than most of the other junior officers of the Child Protection Unit. He just wished the kid wouldn't overestimate himself so much.

"Either way," Phelps continued, looking at the cellar door bitterly. "I think he's gotten himself into more trouble, and we can't even lift a finger to help him. It'll take a miracle to finally make a move against Doctor Marcel."

Kornelia began scraping some red gunk off the wall and into an oversized sample bag. "I don't get it," She said. "Gerret said he knew where the other students were, right? So isn't that enough to get the squad moving?"

"They need a warrant to search the asylum. I explained that Marcel essentially kidnapped one of them, but they wrote me off for having 'no real proof.' " Phelps huffed.

Kornelia put a hand to her chin. "It's like they're adamantly _trying_ to stay away from Marcel."

Just then, the cellar door squeaked open. One of the town policemen poked his head in, shining a flashlight down at them.

"Pardon me, officers..." He said, sounding a bit jittery. "There's, uh, something you might want to see."

The two looked at each other inquisitively, before gathering up the evidence they had collected to follow the young cop out.

Outside was a real spectacle. Cops where everywhere, going in and out of the convent so that no area was left unchecked. Lights had been set up to better inspect the quarantined areas, which had been blocked off by police tape. Phelps and Kornelia followed the man inside, where more police officers where gathered. They stepped over the dead clown nobody cared about and headed to the kitchen.

Inside, another cop was speaking with two men sitting at one of the tables. They were both draped with blankets, sipping tea with shaking hands. One was short, balding and fat, the other taller and thin with a lousy mullet. They both wore glasses and white uniforms under their blankets.

"So let me get this straight." The officer was saying. "You were attacked by the _phantom of the asylum_..."

"Uh huh." The short one muttered.

"Only to run right into a sabre-toothed boar's territory..."

"Yeah." The tall one whimpered.

"Which then started chasing you all through town and up the mountain because you _wet yourself, making it mistake the scent for a female of it's species_."

The short one pulled his blankets around tighter, grumbling miserably. The two investigators stared at the scene dumbfound.

"That's definitely one for the books." Kornelia remarked, taking out a pack of cigarettes from her back pocket. Phelps frowned at her as she lit up.

"Real respectful, Ellie."

"I was just scraping a child's remains off the wall not five minutes ago and now you think I'm being sacrilegious?"

"No, I think you're forgetting that one of the dead kids asphyxiated himself."

She shrugged. "It's not my fault he couldn't handle his smokes."

"Hey, can I bum one off you?" The short man interrupted. "Any price is worth it after the day I've had."

"It's on the house." Kornelia handed him the pack and her lighter. The man gratefully took them, fumbling with the lighter as his hands still shook. "In fact, take the whole thing. I'm trying to quit."

" _Sure_ you are." Phelps murmured.

"I'd LOVE to quit." The tall man spoke up. "Not smoking, I mean. I'm talking about my job. I'm done with phantoms and boars and loonies and...!"

Kornelia's ears perked up. "Loonies?"

The tall man stopped, realizing what he had just said. Apprehensively, he looked back at his companion. The short man considered him for a moment, then let out a tired grunt.

"Just tell them. I'm fed up with all this, paycheck be damned."

Hearing this, the tall one looked back at the officers, who were waiting patiently. Gulping, he spoke.

"We... work for Doctor Marcel." He said, taking out a badge from his shirt pocket to show the agents. "And listen to me when I tell you guys: he's gone flipping nuts!"

Phelps was speechless. His partner turned to look at him, beaming. "I think we've found our miracle."

The policeman, who had been listening all this time, suddenly became very flustered.

"Uh, n-now gentlemen..." He stammered, raising his hands. "Let's not throw accusations around like that..."

"The man said they're both under Marcel's employment," Phelps interjected, checking the man's ID closely. "That gives them a first-hand account of the doctor's actions. I don't think you can have anymore proof than that."

The officer kept looking like he wanted to say something, but clamped his mouth shut. Kornelia watched him from the corner of her eye as he started to sweat profusely.

Phelps handed the ID badge back to the orderly. "Well, looks like it all checks out, my friend. We'll need everything you know, so start as far back as you can."

The man pondered this for a moment. He seemed to be recollecting his thoughts, as if he was considering what to say. With a deep breath, he made his decision.

"Do either of you remember Mattis Konrad?"

* * *

 **A/N:** _Not every scene, particularly the ones with Reuben, are happening necessarily in the exact order they appear. As with the rest of the story, they're meant to 'fill in the empty spaces' the game left behind. Of course, this is just me trying to justify my poor writing technique._ XD


	7. Chapter 7

"YOU LITTLE IMBECILE!"

Lilli winced as the Mother Superior brought her ruler down on her desk with such a hard smack, it splintered down the middle. The old woman shook with rage as she gripped the broken tool in her hand.

"You are by far the most deplorable, most abhorrent, most repugnant, most... most REVOLTING little blister to ever set foot in this convent!" She screeched. In her other hand, Mother Superior held up a little golf ball, clutching it so tight it threatened to explode into dust. "Did you think it was FUNNY breaking that stained-glass? Does it _amuse_ you to commit blasphemy? DISGUSTING!"

Another whack against the desk had Lilli shrinking where she stood. Her whole body was cold as she stared at the floor, unable to meet the scornful gaze of her guardian.  
"Look at me when I'm speaking to you!" Mother Superior snapped. Trembling, Lilli slowly tilted her head up. She hiccuped, forcing her sobs inward. This only seemed to make the old one angrier.

"It makes me want to vomit, knowing that I've another ten years or so to deal with your ilk." She snarled. "It is only by my duty as a servant of God that I must watch over little beasts like you. Even then, all I see when I look at you is a hopeless case."  
A cruel sneer came across her face. "But that isn't too surprising, coming from the slug-spawn of a _filthy harlot_."

Lilli's face froze. Mother Superior pulled out a photograph from her desk. It was worn and tear-stained, but one could still make out the image of a smiling woman and her infant.

"Yes, I know who you are." The old witch said in a dangerously low voice. "I know who she was, and how she met your father...!"

A pause. Lilli stared wide eyed as Mother Superior held her tongue from repeating the stories only grownup ears could understand. The child, she figured, was diseased enough. No, better that she solve the problem than make it worse. The woman stood, still holding the photo tightly. Lilli's heart was racing, desperately trying to figure out how she could've been so careless as to let her one treasure be discovered. She wanted to scream and beg Mother Superior Ignatz to give it back. She would be good. She would always be good.

But her mouth became numb as her caretaker approached that horrid plant sitting in the corner.

"All ties must be severed. It is the only way." She said quietly. "It's for your own good."

Lilli was horrorstruck. She tried in vain to cry out, but her tongue refused to untie. She could barely cry a few syllables as the last remaining piece of her family was dangled over the plant's gaping maw as is reached out, snapping it's jaws.

"N... No...!"

Mother Superior stared down at her coldly. "It's what she deserves."

Lilli felt her heart go dead as the wrinkled hand let go. The child had only a single moment before the image of her mother was gone, torn to shreds by the starved creature. The pain was too much for the little one to bear. She collapsed, and everything came bursting free as she cried her little eyes out.

But she couldn't even have this moment. It was taken away by the sharp sting of the back of her shirt being jerked, tearing her away from the floor.

"Get up." Lilli heard the woman hiss. "And for God's sake, stop crying. You're eight years old."

The little one felt like the whole world was crushing her under it's heel. Though she wiped her eyes and stood at attention like she had always been taught, her body felt like she could barely hold it together and that one push would break her into a thousand pieces.

Mother Superior sat back down at her desk. "Go to your bunk and stay there for the rest of the day. You are to forget she ever existed. You are to spend this time purging her from your memory. Do I make myself clear?"

Lilli shut her eyes tight, nodding furiously.

"Good. Now get out."

The girl walked in an orderly fashion, not too fast, not too slow, just as she had been taught. But once she was out of the woman's sight, she ran as fast as her little legs could carry. She ran and ran until finally making it to her dorm, where she threw herself on her bed and sobbed into her pillow. She cried and cried and cried until there were no more tears left.

She laid in darkness for what felt like hours until she heard the flap of the dorm curtain shift.

"There you are! Good idea hiding in here. It's so obvious, she'd never think of looking." Lilli's heart lifted as Edna's voice filled the room. She lifted her head from her pillow to face her. "Boy, Mother Superior was really foaming when she found what we..."

The dark-haired girl's voice trailed off at the sight of her friend's puffy, reddened eyes. In an instant, Lilli leaped off the bed and threw her arms around the taller girl's waist, burying her face in Edna's stomach. The older one was surprised for a second, but gently returned the hug, placing a comforting hand on Lilli's blonde head.

"Hey, you..." She said tenderly. "What's wrong? Did she do something to you?"

She knelt so that Lilli could speak to her eye to eye. The child leaned in to rest her head on Edna's shoulder, and whispered everything into her ear. As the story unfolded, Edna's expression grew more and more disheartened.

"Oh... Lilli." She whispered, wrapping her arms around the child's back. "I'm so sorry..."

Edna continued to hug Lilli in that spot for a while, stroking her hair while attempting to sooth the poor girl as best she could. She struggled to find the proper words. She remembered her own mother, and how she had been equally taken away from Edna at a young age. She could remember the hurt and the unfairness of it all. Then, something clicked.

"When I was little," Edna started softly. "I lost my mom too. For the longest time, I thought I'd never smile again... but then one day, I met someone who brought it back."

Edna gently pushed Lilli forward to face her again. The girl's eyes were still shut tight, wet with tears. She opened them slowly to look at Edna.

"His name was Harvey." The girl continued. "And he was a magic bunny rabbit."

Lilli frowned a little.

"I'm serious!" Edna laughed lightheartedly. "He was my best friend. He talked to me. He taught me how to put balloons in the casserole and where to find tadpoles. We flew to the moon, traveled back in time, and fought monsters all right in my own backyard."  
Lilli's expression softened as she started to see what Edna was saying. The older student smiled melancholic.

"With Harvey, I wasn't so lonely anymore." She said. "We were both weirdos. He understood me."

She moved a stray lock of hair from her face. Lilli watched as the light in her eyes dimmed.

"I... lost him a while back. Again I thought I'd lost everything. I was ready to just give up... but you know what happened next?"

The warmth returned to Edna's face as she brought a hand to Lilli's face, using her thumb to wipe away the tears lingering at the edge of the girls tired eyes.

"I found you."

A little smile crept at the corners of Lilli's mouth. The two hugged once again, feeling comforted that in spite of it all, they had each other. Lilli breathed easy as the aching feeling in her heart drifted off for another day.

* * *

Lilli's legs felt like gelatin, and her head swooned. Even after the countless trips into her own mind, the psychic battle she had just undergone left her feeling exhausted.

Regaining focus, she looked up at Mother Superior. The old woman had a look of shock, as if someone had plunged her into a pool of ice water. The knitting needles slipped from her hands, hitting the padded floor softly. Lilli watched her warily. She had no idea what the nun was going to do now that she was free of Marcel's control. Lilli assumed she returned to her old self, fly into a rage, spitting fire and brimstone everywhere.

But instead, she did something Lilli hadn't expected at all. The woman's face contorted for a second, and then she slowly began to sob. Surprised, Lilli glanced at Edna and Gerret. The latter was simply staring, but Edna was equally stunned. Neither of the girls had ever seen Mother Superior cry. She was large and domineering, a gale of wind that tried to make everything bend to her will. Now she looked so small and vulnerable.

Bringing a hand to her face, Mother Superior wiped her eyes of the tears that wouldn't stop flowing. Once she had calmed down considerably, she regarded Lilli staring at her.

"Thank you, Lilli."

Never in her life had the little girl ever expected to hear those words. Quivering, Mother Superior brought her hands close to her chest and over her heart. Long withdrawn feelings were finally returning, and it was hitting her hard.

"I had forgotten what it was like to be a child." She spoke softly. "All the unfair rules... all the restrictions..."

Unable to keep herself in control, the old woman began to wail again.

"Oh, Lilli... what have I _done_ to you all?"

"Bravo, Lilli." Gerret's voice broke the tension. As heartwrenching as the scene was, he was impatient to get things moving. "Now we have her where we want her. Take the knife from her so you can finally cut us loose!"

Everything was happening a little too fast for Lilli. Mother Superior was still in a state of hysterics that she hadn't even heard Gerret speak. It would have mad things a lot easier. The small child had no idea how to calm the old nun.

Then it came to her. She looked down at Harvey, who Lilli had been holding by the ears this whole time. A story that had been told to her a long time ago was resurfacing in her memories. She hoisted Harvey into her arms, holding him up for Mother Superior to see.

"Awww... isn't that cute?" The old woman cooed between sobs. "Do you think I could hold it...?"

Lilli hummed in uncertainty. Her eyes fell upon Edna, who had been watching it all silently. Lilli could tell from the look on her face that she was thinking the same thing. A reassuring glance let the girl know that it was alright, at least for now.

"But... but Lilli..."

She looked down at the ragdoll rabbit in her arms that the squeaky voice had come from. Harvey was staring at her with his big, goofy yet sad eyes.

"What are ya up to?" He asked nervously. "Do you really want to give me to Mother Superior?"

The dismay in his tone shifted as he took a glimpse at the sobbing elder, crinkling his nose.

"I mean, she could do with some pizazz in her life, by the looks of it." He admitted before turning back to the young one bitterly. "But I thought the two of us are friends!"

He was staring at her pleadingly, the twinkle of childhood magic in his eyes refusing to fade away. It only filled Lilli with a somber reminded of reality.

"We could try so many things..." He said. "Come on, let's light a few things on fire... Or talk with Edna... or build something crazy out of different stuff! Or... or..."

But the sad, stern look in Lilli's eyes told him everything. If they could, Harvey's ears would droop down to match his growing sadness.

"Do you really want to give me to Mother Superior...?"

The child hesitated for one last moment, before giving a confident "Mm-hmm."

"Really?" Two voices said at the same time, one tired and hopeful, the other discouraged. Lilli nodded and carefully handed the bunny to Ignatz, who smiled genuinely for the first time in the many years of her old life. She cradled Harvey in her arms, which didn't really make the rabbit any happier.

Mother Superior insisted on giving the girl something in return. The smart aleck in her had a lot to say about what the crone could give back, but Lilli knew this wasn't the time or place for thoughts like that.

"Unfortunately, this knife is all I have..." Mother Superior sniffed. Harvey had to admit, giving little kids knives was already making her cooler in his book. "Do you think it would be enough?"

Of course it was, and Lilli took it quickly. Mother Superior thanked her for everything, and she meant it. Nobody could tell at the moment, but the nun had changed for the better.  
But the same couldn't be said for Lilli.

She stared at the weapon she now held in her hand. The light from the ceiling reflected off of it, giving it a mystical allure. Lilli's heart was beating as it filled her with a sense of raw power. In a flash, she remembered the Valley of Uncomfortable Memories. She remembered the tormented faces of her fellow students.

She remembered Doctor Marcel.

Gerret and Edna were talking to her. She was distracted from most of it, but one thing managed to reach Lilli's ears: Edna knew how to leave the room. Doctor Marcel had locked her away in this very room once upon a time, and her escape led to his disfigurement. She would think on this revelation later, but for now it was just another one of the monster's crimes that fed the flames of her rage.

"Lilli...? Is something wrong?"

Her grip on the knife tightened. Though her face showed no emotion, her body was burning. The girl looked over at the patched section of the padded wall Edna had mentioned.

"Come on, cut us loose."

But she refused. The fire inside her was boiling. All around were the ones who had once commanded her every move, and her she was standing tall over all of them, sword in hand. For them she would still move mountains, but at HER word.

Now, the time had come.

Lilli ignored them as they called her name, begging her not to do anything rash. Their words fell on deaf ears, and she sliced through the stitches covering the ventilation shaft in one stroke. The cries of her friends grew distant as she clambered down the dark metal passage. She'd come back when the task was done, and they'd all be free.

She dropped down into Dr. Marcel's office with barely a pat. The old man sat in his chair, staring out the window. In the pale moon light, he looked soft and withered, no longer the menacing nightmare he really was. Lilli took a breath as her senses returned for just a moment, followed by an overwhelming sense of dread. She swallowed it down, forcing herself to remember the blood on his hands and loved one's he had hurt.

Without a sound, she approached him. She held the knife in both hands for the time to strike. She paused, staring at him one last time, and in that few seconds she could imagine Edna's arms around her shoulders, placing her hands over hers comfortingly.

She raised the knife over her head.

* * *

"...IF YOU WANT TO HYPNOTIZE ME, YOU'LL HAVE TO WALK FIRST, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT I'M GOING TO DO NOW! YOUR THERAPY IS GARBAGE! WHY DON'T YOU WORRY ABOUT YOURSELF, GRANDPA?!"

Lilli's screams rattled all the way through the ventilation shaft and into the cell, where everyone sat in a stunned silence as all of the child's pent up rage came out in one massive explosion. Nobody said a word as Lilli yelled on and on with no end in sight. It must have gone on for over twenty minutes before it finally stopped. The room was dead quiet for a couple of seconds before Harvey finally broke the silence.

"Yowza." He whistled. "What a set of lungs."

Gerret was quietly ruminating. He knew something must have happened. From his position he had faintly heard Dr. Marcel speaking to Lilli. For the timid little girl to go fly off into such a tirade was so unlike her, Gerret was certain that the doctor had used whatever psycho analogy or mind games to mess with her head. The result had been something so terrible it caused her to snap.

"I... I had no idea she felt that way."

Gerret's thought process was interrupted by the one tied up next to him. Much of the little girl's rant had focused on both him and Edna, and Lilli's best friend was taking all in rather difficultly.

"I wasn't trying to boss her around, I-I just..."

"We'll have time to talk things over later." Gerret interrupted. "We still need to escape, especially with Lilli in trouble again."

"R-Right." Edna breathed, snapping out of her funk. She started scanning the room, though obviously little had changed. Then her eyes fell on the white-haired figured huddled in the corner with her rabbit, still weary from the events of the day and stuck in a state of shock from hearing Lilli scream her head off.

 _Here goes nothing_. Edna inhaled and cleared her throat as loud as she could. Much to her relief, the old woman actually jolted out of her stupor and looked around in confusion before finally spotting the two above her.

"Oh..." She said, quite befuddled by the sight. "Hello there. What in the world are you two doing all tied up like that?"

"Enjoying the scenery of lala-land, obviously." Edna grumbled.

"There's a lot to explain, Mother Superior." Gerret cut in again, shooting the slyph a glare. "But we were hoping you could cut us down first."

"Oh dear." Ignatz put a hand to her mouth as the gears in her head began working again. "I did this to you, didn't I? Yes... Yes, I remember. Hold on a moment."

She stood, old bones creaking and groaning all the while she shuffled over to the wool trappings. All of a sudden she was moving at an electric pace as her hands pulled one string there, another here, all so quickly that Edna didn't even have time to blink before she and Gerret fell to the floor with a plop.

"What a relief." Gerret sighed, stretching the kinks out of his back. "I thought we'd never get out of those things."

"Dang, I wanted to get my own cocoon!" Harvey huffed from his spot in Mother Superior's arm. "Or at least get to play the Xenomorph and lay eggs in Officer Beavis' stomach."

Edna looked at the rabbit with such a fondness she had missed for so long. "You haven't changed a bit, Harv."

"You mean he's _always_ been like this?" Gerret grumbled.

The old woman stared at the two blinking. "Who are you talking to?"

"God." Edna said with a stupid grin. Suddenly, a grey hand shoved a ball of wool right into her mouth.

"Boy, that felt good." Gerret smirked in satisfaction. Turning his attention back to the nun, he said, "Thank you for the assistance, ma'am. We'll take it from here."

Mother Superior was still confused as they hurried over to the vent. "But wait," She said. "What's going on?"

"We don't have time to tell the whole story." Edna said, going in first. "Lilli might be in danger!"

Before Gerret could climb in with her, he watched in surprise as Mother Superior pushed past him, attempting to lift herself into the tunnel.

"Wait a second," He said. "Just what do you think you're doing?"

"What does it look like?" She snapped back. "I'm going with you."

Edna stared at her. "Say what now?"

"That poor child has suffered enough." Ignatz huffed, managing to squeeze herself in. "For once, I need to do the right thing."

"Come on, Edna!" Harvey said excitedly. "Let's all go together! It'll be just like old times!" Dropping his voice to a whisper, he added, " _And when you get the chance, you can get me out of this situation..._ "

Edna and Gerret glanced at each other, but both wordlessly agreed that there was no time to really argue about it. There was no harm in letting her come with them anyway. The three crawled their way down the wide tube before coming to the open grate. Edna cautiously peeked inside, and grew increasingly worried when Lilli was nowhere to be seen. Then she saw Doctor Marcel sitting behind his desk. Hands balling into fists, she dropped down into the office and stormed over to him.

"Where is she." She demanded, voice low and dangerous.

The doctor didn't answer, and it took her a second to realize that he was staring straight ahead, completely stupefied. But Edna was not in the mood for anymore of that kind of nonsense tonight. If finding Lilli meant knocking some sense back into the old coot, she was glad to do so. It was a long time coming.

"I SAID," She repeated, cracking her knuckles. " _Where is she?_ "

Her fist was barely raised before Gerret grabbed her wrist from behind.

"That isn't going to help." He said firmly. Mother Superior and Harvey came following close behind him.

Edna begrudgingly yanked her arm out of Gerret's hand. "It would've helped _me_..." She mumbled.

"I was so close."

Everyone's attention was suddenly focused on the old man in the wheelchair, who's words came out of nowhere. His face contorted into one of such defeat, all the menace and all superiority seemed to be sucked right out of him. His body slumped into his chair.

"I had her right in the palm of my hand." He whispered. "Victory was mine at last... and then..."

All of Marcel's delusions had come crashing down on top of him. It seemed that the defiance of one more child was the straw that broke the camel's back. Now all he could do was sit in a mix of perplexity and despondency.

As usual, Gerret was able to put things together. "I think it's safe to say that Lilli is gone." He said. "She might even be on the way back to the cell, thinking we're still trapped."

"I'll go look for her!" Edna immediately volunteered. She looked at Marcel again with a cold glare. "You guys stay here and make sure he doesn't try anything."

"I was just going to suggest that myself." Gerret said. "I'll try to get in contact with my superiors somehow. Good luck."

Edna nodded, and headed straight for the door. As she opened it halfway, however, she stopped. She took another look back at Doctor Marcel. Something inside her knew that after tonight, she may never see him again. He had done nothing but ruin her life, yet at this very moment, her heart softened just a little. As evil and bitter a man he may have been, the sad fact was that right now he was nothing but a broken, miserable old man with nothing to live for.

She took a breath, shutting her eyes. "Doctor... for the record... I'm sorry about Alfred."

The man didn't move from his chair, but his eyes shifted in her direction.

"I've always been sorry. I always _will be._ But..." Her eyes opened, and she looked over her shoulder with a frown that was neither hateful or pitying. It was a knowing frown. "I haven't forgotten Mattis Konrad, and I'll never forget the little girl who had him taken away from her."

With that, she was gone. The entire room was still. Marcel's head lowered as he drifted back into his daze. Gerret said nothing, knowing it wasn't his place to say anything. He did wonder if Edna's words had reached the old man or not, but he had pried into Edna's life enough. She deserved to have this moment between her and Marcel to herself.

Harvey wanted to speak up multiple times, but kept shutting his mouth. Even he could see that this was something extremely personal that he didn't have the words for. Mother Superior, while understanding very little, was still able to put enough peices together and hugged the bunny sadly. While Gerret began to pat Marcel down for any weapons he might have been concealing, she stepped over to the door to see if she might see the girl and give her own condolences.

Edna had been long gone, but the old woman lingered with her head partially in the hallway. The moonlight was shining from the window right on to a wooden door right across from her.

She couldn't tell if her mind was still disoriented or not, but it sounded like someone was crying in there...

* * *

Lilli wasn't in the cell.

It hadn't even been opened. When Edna found it, it was just as locked as before. Confused and growing more concerned by the second, the girl raced down the stairs as she tried to figure out what could've happened. Lilli couldn't have really been that upset with her, could she?

She tried to stay focused and pushed the idea out of her head. Coming to the second level, she took a sharp intake of air upon spotting the familiar faces of King Adrian, Peter, Petra, and Drogglejug gathered around a makeshift fire. Edna took a few steps forward with the intent of asking them if they'd seen her, but hesitated. She needed to move fast, and stopping to chat would only slow things down. Deciding to save it as a last resort, Edna went back to the stairs and rushed down to the first floor.

It had been the right decision. Right as the exit doorway came into view, Edna spotted a little yellow head marching right towards it.

"Lilli!"

Edna's joy and relief diminished when her friend kept walking, not even acknowledging her.

"L-Lilli?" Edna said again, coming down the steps to follow her.

"Go away."

Edna froze in place, unable to believe what she had just heard. Her heart began to pound. She had to fix this, she had to.

"Lilli," She tried again, before Lilli could reach the doors.

" _I said go away!_ "

"Please, just listen-"

" _NO_ , YOU _LISTEN!_ " Lilli whirled around and screamed so hard, Edna actually recoiled in fear. "I DID _EVERYTHING_ FOR YOU! I WENT THROUGH _ALL OF THIS_ FOR YOU! I HURT PEOPLE BECAUSE OF YOU AND YOU WEREN'T EVEN REAL!"

She stood their, panting and trembling as the floodgates in her eyes threatened to break open. Edna watched her, paralyzed with shock.

"L... Lilli," She finally uttered. "What are you talking about...?"

Lilli stared at her briefly before turning away, eyes clenched shut as if she were in great pain.

"Why are you doing this?" She whimpered. Her voice was dry and hoarse. "This is already hard enough... please, just go away!"

Edna had no idea what to do. She didn't know what was going on in the girl's head, or what Marcel had done to her. Timidly, she attempted to place a comforting hand on Lilli's shoulder, only for her to flinch as it was jerked away. Edna's hand stayed where it was in the air as the teenager tried to think of something to say.

"I... I'm sorry..." Was the first thing that came to mind. "I really am. I didn't want all this to happen, I should've helped you more..."

Lilli's breathing seemed to stop. She was standing still, now listening as Edna spoke. The dark-haired girl smiled hopefully.

"B-But everything's going to be okay now!" She continued. "Doctor Marcel will be arrested, and Mother Superior is better now! We can go back to the convent, a-and maybe the other kids w-"

" _You don't know ANYTHING!_ " Lilli suddenly yelled again, whirling around and giving the older girl such an intense glare it made her shrink. "You think everything will just go back to normal?! It CAN'T, Edna! It never can! But you always think things will just go the way you want them to! You do what you want without thinking about the people who get caught in the middle because YOU ONLY CARE ABOUT YOURSELF!"

"That's... that's not true!" Edna cried weakly. "I care about you..."

"NO YOU DON'T!" Lilli snapped. "I'm just a _playmate_ to you! Someone to get you out of trouble and do all your dirty work! You never lost Harvey, you REPLACED him! All those games we played, all the moments together, the comfort, _none of it was real!_ Well, I'm NOT your Harvey, you're NOT my friend, and _I DON'T NEED YOU ANYMORE!"_

The final screech of Lilli's tirade echoed throughout the silent halls around them. Lilli's throat was burning, but she felt it had been worth it. Breathing heavily, her eyes remained locked on the person she felt nothing but betrayal from. Edna was absolutely petrified by the child's words. Her mouth was agape, quivering slightly.

A small whine escaped her lips as Lilli backed away, still glaring furiously at her former best friend. She lifted her hands almost in a begging position, finally regaining her ability to speak.

"Please..." She begged with a pitiful sob. Her tears began to break free, cascading down her cheeks. "Please, Lilli, I can't be alone again... I need you... LILLI, PLEASE!"

Lilli's face distorted slightly, as if trying her hardest to stay angry. Her breathing was funny, and her eyes glimmered with the threat of her own tears pooling up. But she merely bit her lip and shut her eyes again, turning on her heel to face the door. She dragged herself forward, and upon reaching the exit, she hesitated one last time before balling her hands into fists and pushing the door open.

Then she was gone.

Edna waited, unmoving, wide-eyed and mouth hanging open. She kept waiting and waiting as if Lilli was going to come right back in any second. But everything remained the way it was.

Her arms fell limply to her sides. Edna stumbled to her knees, breathing in and out as her tears just kept on pouring out unending. Finally, her breath cracked with sobs before turning into all-out wails. Bringing her hands to her face, her fingers tore at her forehead in anguish. Edna keeled over, hair drifting over her face as she continued to cry into the dark.

Lilli had never looked back.

* * *

 **A/N:** _Reviews are appreciated._


	8. Chapter 8

When you're a brain in a jar, your movement is obviously limited. As such, Bobo's life was incredibly boring and unpleasant. Day in and day out, he had to deal with the inane conversations and gossiping of the asylum orderlies who came into the supply closet. The day Babbit had finally left and taken all his stupid minigolf ramblings with him was closest thing to a happiest day in the brain's life.

Of course, he wasn't entirely unaware of what was going on in this institute. With nothing else to listen to, he had absorbed every story that had passed by his jar and kept every bit of information stored away in his memory. Just from word-of-mouth, Bobo had watched the rise and fall of Doctor Marcel and his descent into madness, without even having eyes to watch with. It wasn't just the dust on his container that told him things had taken a turn for the worst, either.

It's easy to do nothing but sit and think when it's the only thing you're physically capable of. With all his knowledge and wisdom, Bobo could've probably solved everyone's problems easily. But he felt it was much more fun to keep it all to himself and see how they did it on their own.

So that's why he kept quiet and watched, if you could call it watching, the old woman kneeling by the slumped figure he recognized as Doctor Marcel's neglected son. That silly mask and hood had finally been taken off so that she could tend to the ugly gash by his eye. Though he was old enough that a bit of stubble was forming around his chin, the young man pouted like a small child as the elderly matron took a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a cloth from the shelf.

"Now stop that fidgeting," She said firmly. "This will only sting for a moment."

She poured a small drop on to the cloth and lightly dabbed it against the wound. Reuben winced, gritting his teeth as it burned him.

"That _hurts!_ " He hissed.

"I should think so, with a nasty injury like that." Mother Superior Ignatz said coolly, keeping the cloth pressed against his face. "You're lucky it whatever it was that did this didn't pierce the eye itself. I can't blame you for crying."

"I wasn't... aagh! I wasn't crying because of that..." Reuben said between grunts. "I was... uh... It's a long story, you see..." He sighed in resignation. "Oh, forget it..."

Mother Superior watched him carefully. Whoever this young man was, something was causing him distress. Her thoughts returned to Lilli, who had vanished once again. Right now, she figured, if she couldn't help her, she would most certainly do whatever she could to help him, at least.

"It should be clean now." She said, removing the cloth. "That aught to keep out infection. We'll just have to close it until it can be given the proper medical treatment."

Pulling a needle out of her tasseled mess of her hair, and a spool of thread from... _somewhere_ , Mother Superior held the side of his face still. Reuben grimaced at the sight of the needle getting so close to his face.

"This will hurt some more." Mother Superior said, keeping the cloth close at hand. "Why don't you try talking? It might distract you from the pain."

Reuben went quiet, not even making a sound as the old woman made her first stitch. She let him rest the back of his head against the wall. With his free hand, he picked up the brown paper bag mask that had been torn off in a fit of despair and discarded on the floor. The older son of Marcel stared at it wistfully before letting out a sad sigh.

"It's stupid." He said. "I put on this dumb outfit thinking it makes me better than everyone, even though I barely do anything except jump out and go 'boo' at people."

He looked over at the idiotically grinning portrait of his deceased brother hanging up on the wall opposite of them, frowning.

"You want to know why I cried?" He said, voice lowering. "It's because I thought I hated someone. I put all the blame for my miserable life on them. They represented everything that had gone wrong... when truthfully, they were never anything more than a simple child who suffered more than I ever did."

Mother Superior had stopped stitching. She was now staring at him hard, captivated by his words. Something about them resonated within her.

"I... I hate myself." Reuben admitted, eyes cascading downward. "I kept it hidden away deep down inside and tried to reason that, no, it was my father's fault I turned out this way. HE was wrong, and I would make him see. I would make EVERYONE see. Anybody who got in my way would feel my wrath."

He laughed bitterly. "Wrath... what a joke. Just put on a hood and suddenly everyone will bow to your every whim..."

Shaking his head, Reuben sighed again.

"Oh, what am I saying? I'm sorry for going off like that. It probably sounds idiotic to you."

A soft, wrinkled hand closed itself gently around his. Looking back at the old woman, he was taken by surprise to see a very gentle smile spread across her face. The twinkle in her eye showed him she understood more than he knew.

"No," She said warmly. "It's not idiotic at all."

Bobo couldn't technically see, but even he could tell that the man was feeling something he hadn't in a long, long time. Something Doctor Marcel had never given him.

The brain would definitely keep this memory. The whole thing would make a fabulous story one day, should he ever get out of this place and make millions from his memoirs alone. Of course, nobody would believe it to be a true story. It was much too sentimental.

After all, nobody really likes happy endings, right?

* * *

Phelps massaged his brow wearily, trying his damndest to unscramble all the thoughts going on in his head at the moment. Both Marcel's goons watched patiently as he and Kornelia processed everything that they had just told them. Bladder shifted nervously as the female investigator chewed the end of her cigarette with a perturbed look.

"I mean, it's mostly just rumors..." He said, trying playing it safe.

"But it all _makes sense_. Everything you two just told us fits in seamlessly with our case files!" Kornelia said. She began pacing back and forth. "Why else would a man known to be a harmless, doting father suddenly confess that he murdered a child unless it was under the threat of losing his own daughter?"

"Now Officer Katzenburg!" The policeman, who had been standing by quietly, suddenly said as he stepped forward with his hands raised. "Let's not jump to conclusions. The mere concept of Doctor Marcel framing someone out of spite is a serious accusation, and as the gentleman said, it's all just rumors."

"Unfortunately, he's right." Phelps said quietly. He kept his hand pressed against his forehead. "Without a first-hand account, everything we just heard is completely useless. Edna is the only person who could give us the truth, and she vanished years ago."

"Actually..."

Everyone looked at Bladder's partner (let's call him Jack, shall we?), who had spoken up. He and his stout companion were positively squirming as they both looked ready to confess something.

"Don't tell me..." Kornelia said, eyes wide.

"We... may have found her..." Jack said, shrinking deeper into his seat. "And... brought her back to the asylum...?"

The cigarette dropped from Kornelia's gaping mouth. She immediately looked at her superior, who was standing completely still as he stared at the men through his sunglasses.

"Gerret's phone call..." Phelps said, his voice slowly rising. "Before he got cut off. He said TWO of the other students escaped..."

It took barely a second for them to put two and two together. Kornelia turned sharply, marching towards the exit, while Phelps dug his phone out of his pocket. The young policeman was getting frantic.

"Wait... Wait a second!" He said, gesturing at Kornelia. "Where's she going? What are you doing?"

"She's gonna round up the rest of your team," He replied, dialing the numbers quickly. "We're takin' Marcel out. I just need to alert your boss back in town, and get the okay from my chief-"

The click of a gun gave him pause. The policeman was aiming straight at Phelps, shaking in pure terror. Marcel's men looked on in shock, not moving an inch. Phelps simply stood there, staring at him.

"M-My sister..." The officer said, his voice shaking. His eyes were wide as saucers. "He has her. He'll _hurt_ her if I don't do what he says. You cant do this. I wont let you, I wont...!"

"What's your name?"

Phelps' expression hadn't changed. He kept staring at the officer with a completely calm exterior while he started to slowly walk towards him. The cop immediately tightened the grip on his gun threateningly.

"Get back!"

"What's your name?" He repeated coolly. He was completely unfazed by the weapon being pointed at him, which only unnerved the officer even further.

"I'll shoot! I _swear_ I will!" He warned. Phelps was merely inches away from the end of the barrel. The moonlight shining through the window reflected off of his sunglasses, further hiding his expressionless face. The senior investigator was absolutely radiating with an aura of confidence that sent chills down the already browbeaten rookie.

"What's your name?" Phelps said again.

"...Paul."

"How long has your sister been under Doctor Marcel's care, Paul?"

"T-Three years." Paul said, sounding more relaxed. "But there's nothing wrong with her! She has ADHD and a few emotional issues, but she's just as normal as everyone else! She doesn't deserve to be locked away like some kind of monster, or... or..."

He was hyperventilating. Phelps began to raise his hand, causing the man to snap back into focus and tighten his grip once more. Not even a single bead of sweat trickled down Phelps' dark skin as he brought his hand to his sunglasses and slowly pulled them off. Paul felt a strange comfort suddenly wash over him. Phelps' eyes were worn and weary, having seen many things in his still young life. He had seen this before, the rookie realized. He had seen it many, many times.

"Does he hurt her?" Phelps asked gently.

Paul swallowed a lump in his throat. "He gives her 'treatments' if I don't cooperate."

"What are these treatments, Paul?"

A pause, and then, "Electro-shock therapy. Sometimes he makes vague threats, like... hitting her or breaking her legs or something. I don't know."

Both Bladder and Jack hung their heads shamefully. They knew Paul wasn't lying.

"I'm not the only one, too." Paul said, frowning. "We all have loved ones. With just one word, he can take them away. We _can't_ take that chance. I _wont_ take that chance."

His eyes were locked on to Phelps, silently pleading with him. The latter refused to look away. He stood completely still, watching Paul with his brown, sad eyes. Everyone in the room remained quiet for a solid minute.

Then Phelps said "What's your sister like?"

Paul smiled weakly. "She's a total goofball." He said. "When I turned sixteen, she threw a surprise party for me in the bathroom. Filled the whole toilet with guacamole, too. Dad nearly burst a blood vessel unclogging the pipes for the rest of the week."

"Damn," Phelps said with a grin. "Never a quiet moment in your house, I'll reckon."

"It was like that everywhere." Paul said. His smile grew the more he talked. "One time she threw a sobbing fit in the middle of a restaurant because she found out the sauce on her spaghetti was made of tomatoes. I must have laughed for a good twenty minutes when the chefs all started arguing about how to make red sauce without using tomatoes in it, while mom literally hid under the table out of embarrassment!"

He laughed, but cut himself short as the rest of his memories came back to interrupt his nostalgia trip. The smile on Paul's face dropped quickly.

"My parents brought her to Doctor Marcel so he could 'cure' her." He said. His brow furrowed. "They thought she was a freak. They never bothered to ask her how she felt, or look for any real help. My parents wanted a _normal_ family with a _normal_ daughter. So they preferred to have her locked away to have her brain fried than ever consider changing themselves."

The gun finally lowered, falling to his side limply. Phelps did nothing, except continue to listen patiently. Jack and Bladder kept staring in amazement.

"I joined the force so I could save her." Paul said. "I thought I could stop Marcel, but now all I'm doing is helping him hurt more people. There's nothing I can do."

"You're wrong."

Paul looked up at Phelps as the latter spoke up. His expression had finally changed into that of conviction.

"You can help her, Paul. You can stop Marcel." He said. "You have the power, not him. The only thing stopping you is yourself."

"He has influence." Paul said, shaking his head. "He can make connections, get people on his side, or..."

"That's why _we're here_." Phelps said earnestly, placing a hand on his chest. "He may have influence, be he can't beat the law, no matter what he thinks. Who do you think has been watching him all this time? You may think he has eyes everywhere, but he doesn't even realize it's the other way around. This is why our agency was founded, Paul. So that nobody can ever be alone."

It got quiet again as Paul absorbed what Phelps was telling him. He seemed hesitant, but from the way his body clenched, the experienced officer could see he was willing to believe he was right.

Just then, Kornelia came back in. "Sorry it took so long. I had to do a bit of convincing..." She stopped, noticing the two standing where they were, and the gun in Paul's hand.

"Whoa, everything okay in here, boss?" She asked, moving slowly toward the fruit bar.

Phelps said nothing, but looked back to Paul with a waiting expression. The young policeman bit his lip as the time to choose was finally upon him. With a deep breath, he looked back up to face the two.

"We're alright." Paul said firmly. "We were just discussing how we were going to bring Marcel in."

Phelps turned back to Kornelia with a wide grin. "You hear that? We're cool, Kori. You can put the coconut down."

Kornelia, who had been clutching an especially hard nut for the past few seconds, chuckled sheepishly and loosened her grip.

"You had another therapy session, didn't you, Phil?"

Paul smirked. "He's a damn better one than Doctor Marcel ever was."

"Damn straight." Phelps smiled complacently. "So, we're in the clear?"

"Just got off the phone with Chief." Kornelia said. "As he so eloquently put it, he wants 'that crippled Frankenstein's ass behind bars by yesterday's breakfast'."

"Ehh..." Bladder suddenly interrupted. "What are we supposed to do?"

"You're coming with us, that's what." Kornelia said, coming over and taking them both by the wrists. "You two are our prime witnesses, so we'll need you in case we have more questions."

She slapped a pair of cuffs on them, linking the two together. Both men looked at the chain, then back at each other with a grimace.

"Now then." Phelps stepped between all of them, reaching back into his pocket. He pulled out his sunglasses and slipped them back on smoothly. "If we're all ready..."

The moonlight reflected off the dark lenses of his glasses, blinding anyone who looked at them. His eyes narrowed downward once again.

"Let's go pay the ol' doctor a visit."

* * *

"...All I'm saying is that it's not _impossible_ for a rabbit to become a Cuban drug lord. I've got the scar, I've got the ability to draw in the ladies, I can't get addicted to anything since I'm made of terrycloth..."

Gerret didn't know _why_ he could hear Harvey. Maybe the rabbit really was alive, or perhaps the amount of overtime he put into his job had loosened a few screws in his head. If that wasn't the case, and if he hadn't gone insane already, Gerret was no doubt going to if he had to deal with the ragdoll's incessant chatter for another minute.

He would have left Harvey behind with Mother Superior, but he had insisted on coming with Gerret to find Edna. He carefully searched the halls of the asylum, carrying Harvey in his hand while the rabbit continued to talk his ear off.

"I'm thinking of renaming myself 'Scarvey'," The rabbit said. "I was also thinking of wearing an eyepatch and do the Kurt Russel look!"

"Here's an idea." Gerret said irritably. "Why don't you go for the mime look and be quiet for a couple of hours. Or days. Or Years."

Harvey blew a raspberry. "THAT'S your best insult? A mime joke? What an amateur!"

"I can think up **plenty** more if you like." Gerret snarled.

"I'd say you had better stay focused on finding Edna, Dirty Harry." Harvey said. "But chances are you'll just get caught again. You're not a very good cop, are you?"

Gerret wanted badly to swing the cackling little scamp into the wall by his ears, but his thoughts were interrupted as they came down the second floor stairs and immediately recognized Harvey's violet-haired owner kneeling in the middle of the foyer. She was completely motionless as her hair draped over her face like a curtain.

"Edna!" Harvey said cheerfully as Gerret approached quickly. "There ya are!"

"What happened?" Gerret asked. "Are you alright?"

She didn't reply. She didn't even move. Gerret glanced at Harvey, who only shrugged in response. Frustratedly, the overstrung youth investigator placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Edna, this is no time for any of your games." He said sternly, shaking her. "Did you find Lilli? Where is she?"

"Gone."

He stared at her, surprised by her blunt answer. "What do you mean _gone?_ "

"She's gone." Edna repeated quietly. "She's gone and she's never coming back."

Gerret was flummoxed. Again he looked to Harvey, who had gone unusually quiet. Suddenly, Edna moved her head slightly towards them, her hair shifting to expose her face. Gerret was taken aback at the sight of her tired, reddened eyes and tear-stained cheeks.

"They're dead, aren't they?" She said abruptly. She stared at Gerret, not taking her eyes off him for a second. "The other kids. That's what you were going to tell me back in the cell, wasn't it?"

Gerret took a sharp breath as she kept staring, awaiting his response. Swallowing, he straightened out his back and nodded firmly. Edna simply looked at him sadly for a moment more before bringing her head back down to stare at the floor again.

Gerret closed his eyes, sighing. "I'm sorry. It was my fault."

"No, it wasn't." Edna shook her head slowly. "It's mine."

She gripped the sides of her arms tightly, hugging herself as she began to tremble all over.

"Everyone was right about me." Edna whimpered as tears welled in her eyes again. "Doctor Marcel was right. Keymaster was right. I'm like a storm that just destroys everything in it's path. All I do is hurt people because I'm too selfish and stupid...!"

Enda gripped herself tighter as images came flooding into her mind. Alfred's confused look of horror, her father's sad smile, the priest, Keymaster's tirade, Doctor Marcel's broken body, the last time she had seen any of her fellow students alive, and now the recent memory of Lilli's scorn. Edna felt sick, keeling over and holding herself as if it was the only way to keep both her mind and her stomach from exploding out of her body.

Gerret watched, mystified as she broke into pitiful sobs. This side of Edna was strange and foreign to him. He knew she had suffered a lot, but he had always figured her to have been hardened by the experience. Seeing her happy-go-lucky exterior completely broken shed a new light on her for Gerret, and a feeling of guilt suddenly washed over him. His eye twitched as he struggled to say something, anything, to ease her pain. But comfort was not something he was used to giving.

Suddenly, Harvey said, "Let me talk to her."

Startled out of his funk, Gerret looked at him. The rabbit was uncharacteristically stoic in this situation. Curiously, he brought the ragdoll before Edna, softly placing him down in front of her. Then he took a step back, awaiting what would happen next.

Harvey sat quietly for a few seconds as Edna cried. When her weeping eventually simmered into a series of soft breathing, he cleared his throat a little.

"Hey, Edna." He said affectionately. "Looks like we've gotten ourselves into a real mess, huh?"

The only sound she made was a light sniff. If he could move, Harvey would played around with the stitching that made up his scar. In his most distant memories, the bunny could remember how it felt being put back together.

"It wasn't a picnic, you know, being dead." Harvey said. "For the longest time there was nothing but darkness. I'd like to believe I was stuck in some kind of waiting room while they decided what kind of afterlife I was fitted for. But then... I can remember the feeling of my cotton being restuffed. I could feel myself being stitched back together! I remember being able to hear again, but not see. It felt like a strange dream, like when you have a fever or too much cough medicine."

Edna still wasn't moving, but her breathing had become still.

"I guess my eyes are kind of like my brain," Harvey continued. "Because once I had them, everything became less... kooky. I could finally think clearly. It felt great... until Doctor Marcel started his new scheme."

He shuddered. "It was like getting a lobotomy, or turned into Robocop. When he put those new eyes on me and that box in my belly, it was like a straight jacket. Not that I could move in the first place, but my head felt... stiff. I was thinking and saying things, but wasn't _feeling_ them. But I can remember everything that happened."

Harvey made a small sniffle of his own.

"I envy you right now, Edna." He said softly. "I wish I could feel what you're feeling. It hurts, but you have the ability to feel that hurt. I can't. I'm stuck with a one-track mind and I can be changed by anyone whenever they want... but not you."

Edna's grip on her shoulders lessened.

"You're such an amazing person, Edna." Harvey said. "You can be fun. You can be wild and free, create or destroy, spread your wings and fly... but you can _grow_. You can listen and learn. You can empathize. I know only what I know, but you can do so much more."

She was actually looking at him now, mouth slightly open as his words reached her. The moonlight hit the whites of Harvey's eyes, making them appear to shine brightly as he smiled tenderly at Edna.

"I can remember everything," He said. "Even if I couldn't comprehend it at the time, I could still see and hear it. I remember seeing you again in Doctor Marcel's office. Do you remember what you said to him?"

Edna needed a second to recall what he was talking about, but she knew. He nodded slightly.

"That's right. You told him to take you in place of Lilli. You were willing to hand yourself over to the man who had ruined your whole life just to save one little girl. Now does that sound like someone stupid and selfish?"

Edna lifted her back, furrowing her brow as she considered this. He watched her carefully.

"You care about her a lot, don't you?"

The question seemed to open up a new door in her mind. Perhaps subconsciously she had replaced Harvey with Lilli, but looking back on it now made her realize how different it was. Harvey had always been the one to cheer her up, as a favorite toy should. But with Lilli, that care had been reversed. They had played together, gotten into trouble together, but Lilli was never just a doll Edna could relate to. Lilli was a human being who was burdened by her own life. Lilli was someone Edna felt the need to protect. Lilli was someone she understood.

Lilli was family.

"I... I love her." Edna found herself saying suddenly as the realization dawned on her. "I love Lilli so much..."

"Then you gotta prove it to her!" Harvey said. "I hate to say it, but you hafta show the world you can grow up!"

She shrunk a little. "But... I don't know if I can do it alone."

"You won't be alone." Harvey said with a big cheeky grin. "We're a duo, remember? It'll be another adventure, just like old times!"

"I'll be there too," Gerret stepped forward. He had heard everything and had a new determination in his heart. "To give you that hand to help you up."

Edna looked at both of them. Everything seemed so uncertain and scary, but at that moment a familiar little spark found itself reigniting inside her once more. After all that had happened, a little smile found itself spreading across her face once more.

"Thank you." She said sincerely. Then she looked up at Gerret with that familiar impish grin. "Now, about that hand, Romeo..."

Harvey broke into a series of giggles as the the Edna everyone knew (and not always loved) returned. Even Gerret cracked a little smile as he helped her stand up.

"You're ready then?" He asked.

"I am." Edna said, picking up Harvey to hold in her arms. It felt comforting, like putting in the last piece of a puzzle.

"I'll hold down the fort here, then." Gerret said. "I'll try and get in touch with my cohorts again." A pause before he adopted his stern expression again. "Bring her back safely."

Edna nodded, turning towards the exit door. Harvey was beaming as he nuzzled the crook of her arm. She smiled, cuddling him close.

"Oh, by the way," Gerret called. "Don't go crashing any cars this time!"

Her hand was already on the door when she replied, "No promises!"

Gerret watched as she paused halfway out the door, held Harvey just a little tighter, and vanished into the night.


	9. Chapter 9

They say history repeats, and Edna Konrad knew it well.

In the quiet of the night, the only sound was the crunching of dirt and gravel under her thick-soled shoes. It was like a constant rhythm every time she stepped, reverberating through the stillness. It was surprising how much a single sound contrasted with Edna's last trek down the mountain. Back then, the soft pats of her bare feet left the air unbroken, allowing her mind to wander off. Now she was grateful for the distraction.

Edna hummed softly to the beat of her footsteps. The sound of the autumn wind rustling the leaves in the valley below soothed her rattled nerves. She absentmindedly kicked a pebble aside and watched it tumble down the path for a solid minute. It kept going until it bounced off a bump in the road, smacking the slope of the mountain.

It occurred to her just how _long_ this road was. The steps to the lookout point and the spot where Doctor Marcel's car had met its watery end looked like they were right front of her. Yet every time Edna took a step they never seemed to move. It was oddly comforting, yet at the same time not so much.

Edna sighed, moving some hair from her eyes. Last time she had come this way, she had been younger and more clueless. Ignorant of the world around her, the girl had blindly gone forward to complete her tasks. Since then, reality had come crashing down on her time and time again, and now everything was so much bigger. The entire world seemed to expand itself around her, going on for miles without end. Everywhere Edna looked, she could only stare out with a feeling of uncertainty.

"Hey, Edna!"

Harvey's voice jolted her from her daydream and she coughed sheepishly. Harvey watched her patiently.

"You alright?" He asked.

"Yeah," She said, pushing her thoughts away for now. "What's up, Harv?"

He grinned and cast his head towards the railing on their right. "Check it out."

They had reached the turning point. At the spot where the road curved, a metal guard had been installed. On top was a bright neon yellow warning sign with the word SLOW written on it in bold letters.

Underneath the guard's wooden posts, Edna could see tire tracks engraved into the dirt. Bits of grass poked out messily, trying to grow around the many grooves and cracks left behind.

"And it only took five loons and a rabbit driving off a cliff for them to make any proper safety measures." Edna noted.

They crept over to the edge of the road, peeking over the rail into the gulch below. The sedan was gone, but Edna could see the tracks leading to the river towards the spot where they had crashed.

"I'll bet Thelma and Louise weren't as lucky." Harvey said. "Say, you think they'll make a movie about us when this is all over? I think after all the stuff we've been through, it'd make a great action flick! I've always wanted to get Russel Crow to portray me on screen..."

"Hold it, Harvey." Edna said suddenly, sitting up. "Do you hear that?"

They listened carefully. Over the choir of crickets chirping, they could faintly make out a different sound coming from the hill behind them. Per chance someone else had walked this lonely road, their blood would have chilled at the sound of a sobbing child drifting through the night. They might have ran home as fast as possible with wild tales about phantoms and the wandering souls of poor young girls who had been taken away far too soon.

Edna's heart was racing, but she had nothing to fear from ghosts.

She hurried quickly but quietly up the stairs to the lookout. When she came close to the top, and when the crying was at it's loudest, she paused. Edna knew what she was going to see. She knew what she had to do. This was the moment of truth, and it frightened her.

As the sobbing continued, Edna gripped Harvey tighter and took a deep breath. Afraid as she was, she had to be strong for this. Going up the steps one foot at a time, the bench soon came into view.

Lilli was curled into a tight ball, head buried into her knees. She was squeezing them so tightly her fingers dug into the skin. Her cries only now seemed to be dying down as all the energy left in her was drained away by the events of the day crashing down on her. The righteous flame was gone, smothered by the cold harsh truth: she had lost _everything_.

Edna's heart plummeted into her stomach. Much as she expected it, it was still hard to look at.

Then Harvey said, "Edna, look! They installed binoculars on the railing!"

Edna whirled her head around to look at her stuffed companion with wide-eyed befuddlement. She braced herself, expecting Lilli to see them and go off on another screaming fit. To her surprise and concern, the little blonde had no response whatsoever. She merely lifted her head to stare at the ground.

"Can I look, Edna? Can I, can I?" Harvey pleaded as his eyes remained glued on to the binoculars.

Edna continued to watch Lilli, who refused to acknowledge either of them. "...Okay, Harvey."

Going up to the rail, she carefully placed Harvey in front of the lenses while she fished some spare change from her pockets.

"Try not to get struck by lightning." She said, smiling a little as she remembered the last time she spoke to someone at this spot. The machine clicked to life as Edna inserted a coin into the slot.

The rabbit gave a short laugh. "If there's anybody who needs that kind of luck, it's you."

He gave her a wink, surprising her. Turning back, Edna saw that Lilli was looking at her. Her dull, somber face hadn't changed. Her eyes narrowed a little before going back to staring at the ground.

Edna inhaled and breathed irritably out the corner of her mouth. Her stomach was full of butterflies as she stepped up to the bench.

"Can I sit?" She asked.

Lilli grunted. Gingerly, Edna sat at the other end and placed her hands in her lap, drumming her fingers together.

The two sat in an uncomfortable silence, unable to face each other for a while. Edna could feel the metaphorical spotlight on her. Either Lilli was giving her another chance to make things better, or she had lost all the energy to say 'no.'

The tension was interrupted by the sound of Harvey humming a little sailor's diddy. Edna smiled as she watched him pretend to make commands under his breath.

"He really knows how to lighten the mood, doesn't he?" She said with a light chuckle. "Good ol' Harvey..."

Lilli said nothing. The smile faded from Edna's face as a thought came to her. She realized that if she was going to make things better, she was going to have to be honest.

"I... lied, you know." said Edna. "About Harvey. He wasn't my only friend."

Lilli snorted, and Edna could read what the girl was thinking clearly: _what a surprise_. Edna waited until Lilli motioned for her to continue. Edna paused, however. If she was going to do this, she couldn't hold anything back. She needed to reveal everything.

"The truth is, Lilli... Doctor Marcel and I have known each other for years. When I was a little girl, he lived right next door to me." Her nose wrinkled. "He and my father would hang out often, which meant that I had to play with his little toad of a son..."

"Alfred."

Edna looked at Lilli in bewilderment. "How do you...?"

"There was a man in the tower." Lilli said. Her voice was weak and raspy. "He said Alfred was his brother."

Edna was almost certain she had heard Lilli wrong. Resting her back against the metal bench, she began laughing in disbelief.

"Alfred's long lost brother." She said, shaking her head. "I should be shocked, but by this point I've been through enough that not even THAT phases me."

For the first time in hours, Lilli cracked a smile. "I know, right?"

Neither of them could help but laugh at just how dramatic everything had changed in one day. Amidst all the tragedy, it was nice to have a little bit of levity. With the air of awkwardness gone, Edna felt a little more comfortable scooting over a bit.

"Hey," She said suddenly. "Remember that time we scared the crap out of Shawney?"

"Oh, I remember that!" said Lilli. "That was when he ripped my favorite book, right?"

"Yeah," Edna said, grinning. "Imagine the look on his face when he found the old man from history class in his bed that night!"

Lilli started giggling. "He screamed like his pants were on fire and sprinted out of the room..."

"...Ran right into Mother Superior..."

"...And hid under her gown!" They both finished at the same time.

They laughed and laughed for a solid minute. It felt like old times again as they reminisced on memories of their time in the convent. Their smiles dropped quickly, however, as reality came crashing through the door once again.

"I can't believe they're gone." Lilli said after a moment.

Edna winced. "Me too." She said. It was all she _could_ say.

"...You know what's really scary?" Lilli said, looking at her. "I knew they weren't bad. Mother Superior hated all of us. I wanted to be friends with them and bring us all together as a family. I tried. I really did try." She bit her lip in frustration. "But they hurt me. They kept hurting me and and I hated them so much... so I felt glad when they got hurt too."

A chill wind blew, and Lilli's breath shook. Instinctively, Edna removed her sweater and handed it to the little one, who accepted it.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you." She whispered through a shiver.

Edna was a bit surprised. Somewhat relieved, too, but it was still unexpected.

"Lilli, you don't have to-"

"Yes! Yes I do!" Lilli interrupted. "I blamed you for what happened to them, but it was my fault. Besides..." She stopped, once again closing her eyes as if in pain. "...You can't blame someone who doesn't exist."

Edna blinked.

Then it dawned on her: Lilli climbing into the vent to confront Marcel - The agonizing five minutes of total silence before the child had begun her sudden screaming fit - The mystery of what had happened during that time seemed to solve itself right at that second.

 _Marcel, you creep_ , she thought. _You screwed her head off_.

Aha, her brain said. So it wasn't her fault after all! No responsibility here, thank you, just give it to the neighbor. Doctor Marcel will gladly accept it, just knock on the door!

But no. As much as she wanted everything to be one big misunderstanding, Lilli's feelings would still be the same. Edna had to fix this, but the real question was how? This just made it more complicated.

She looked back at Harvey. His humming continued, but he was a little more quiet now. As she watched him, Edna's thoughts from earlier returned. Convincing Lilli that she wasn't hallucinating would take tact, so Edna decided to go back to her original confession.

"Alfred was like them a lot of ways." She said. "He could be a real stinker, but underneath his stick-in-the-mud personality, he was hurting." Edna rested her foot on the bench, resting her chin on her knee. "I wish I could have remembered that before it was too late..."

Lilli was watching her carefully. "What happened to him?"

Edna's lips pursed. _You've got nothing else to lose_ , She thought. _She's giving you another chance. If she hasn't rejected you by now, then you can last until the end. Tell her the truth._

"I killed him."

It was a little more blunt than it should have been necessary, and it reflected on Lilli's face.

"Not on purpose or anything." Edna said quickly. "One day we were fighting, and I got so mad that I wrote something awful in my diary. I don't remember what it was, but it must have been terrible because when he ended up finding it, he just... snapped."

The memory of that awful day was still there, now more clear to her than ever. Underneath Alfred's smug grin, there was an honest look of betrayal. That look alone made Edna wish she remembered what exactly it was she wrote. At the same time it made her hope she would never find out at all.

"He took Harvey," She said. "He was going to rip him apart. Everything was so crazy, I panicked, and then..."

Edna looked at Harvey again. He wasn't moving. After a moment, Enda turned to look away from him.

"...It isn't always good to listen to what Harvey says." She whispered.

Lilli was intrigued by this. Edna's past was something that had never come up before. Lilli had always used her as a shoulder to cry on when it came to _her_ problems, but Edna had been a master of dodging questions.

She could have easily dismissed this as her mind once again trying to convince her that her sole family in the entire world wasn't an illusion. But what Edna said about Harvey rang too true in her eyes. This revelation suddenly made her appear more solid to Lilli and less of a ghost.

Edna could see the tinge of hope in the child's eyes.

"So... when you said the girl who escaped from the asylum was _you_..."

Edna nodded. "Marcel's revenge was to frame my father. Then he stuck me in his nuthouse and messed with my brain until I could become Alfred 2.0." She looked at the asylum, sitting under the moonlight like a giant gravestone. "Escaping was my first adventure. I look back on that time fondly, because what happened when I actually got out..."

She paused. Edna looked up, staring at the church and her house in the distance. Then her head moved to the asylum once more. A curious look came over her face as the wind blew through her hair.

"When I was a little girl," She said. "I used to daydream in class."

Lilli seemed puzzled by the random subject change. Still, she waited to see where Edna was going with this.

"Oh, Alfred was a model student." She continued, rolling her eyes. "But that's not hard when your teacher's a hard-nosed sadist who reduces everything to trivia and sound bites. Could you blame me for being distracted?"

Lilli didn't understand everything Edna said. Even so, the change in her tone was hard to miss. Her words felt true, as if nothing was hiding behind them anymore.

A stray leaf fluttered in front of their faces. Edna snatched it from the air, staring at it as she twirled it around in her fingers.

"My childhood was small and simple. There were times I felt caged, but it was secure. My world was one of carnivals and playgrounds, swimming in the pond and getting ice cream on summer days."

She let the leaf fly out of her hand. It drifted through the air, twirling around in circles before the wind carried it down the mountain where it disappeared into the gorge below.

"I thought I could get it back, once I escaped." Edna said. "I thought it would all go back to normal once I got home and proved my father innocent. Even when someone died because of me, I thought it would all go away... but when I finally reached home..."

Somewhere, a wind chime rang gently in the night.

"...It was gone." She said. "The carnival had moved on. The parlor was a boarded up shack. The lake dried up. All that was left was the skeleton of a house buried at the edge of a black forest."

Harvey still wasn't moving. Lilli was entranced. Edna shifted her leg back in front of her, bowing her head.

"I made a decision that day. Two, actually." Edna gripped her knees tight. "The first one was a desperate move to keep at least one part of my childhood alive... and all it did was put Marcel in a wheelchair. The other one..."

The older girl gave a sad chuckle.

"I had already hurt so many people by then." She said, a few tears appearing at the edges of her eyes. "It was only fair I put a stop to it. There was nowhere else I could go anyway."

Birgit's lifeless body swung into Lilli's mind. Her throat tightened instinctively, making it difficult for her to find her voice. Somehow, she managed. "The convent..."

"In spite of what Mother Superior says," Edna said, wiping her eyes. "I have my doubts about the man upstairs. I imagine he's like a used car salesman, giving you a good deal while ripping you off at the same time. Well, I lived, but at the price of losing Harvey. It was like getting a low-mileage luxury car, only you drive about five miles before the engine falls out and you find it's full of sawdust."

Lilli frowned. Edna was masking herself again. The teen smiled weakly as best she could, but resigned with a sigh.

"Sorry." She said. "It's just hard. Those were some of the worst days of my life..."

Lilli's expression softened. She remembered _her_ first time coming to the convent.

Edna faced Lilli to speak directly. "Do you remember the night we first met? When I found you by the cliffside?"

Lilli smiled, nodding.

"I came to that spot a lot." Edna said. "I kept wishing I could go back. Home was gone, but the Asylum... the asylum was still there. I could see me, I could see Harvey, I could see all the friends and we had made... It was a gilded cage, and I left it all in an attempt to find another gilded cage that no longer existed."

Edna lifted her head, casting her gaze at the night sky. Emotion suddenly swelled in Lilli's chest. As the light from the moon shined on Edna, locks of violet hair strewn across her face, something changed. Her normally manic visage had relaxed as Edna's inner demons were finally releasing themselves. Though heavy with fatigue and mental weariness, the peace Edna was feeling with herself seemed to shine in her eyes. Lilli knew that her fractured mind could never come up with an image so beautiful.

"I'm always running." Edna said. Her voice was quiet, the wind carrying it to Lilli's ears. "Trying to get away from the future. Trying to find the 'home' that I'd lost. A place where nothing has to change. With you, I thought I had truly found it. Eventually Mother Superior would croak and the other kids would move on, but it would always be our own little world. But then Marcel came back and I... I just..."

She dropped her head in shame. "I panicked, and ran away again. At the time I thought you could handle it. I left you to handle my problems when really... I should have been the one doing everything to protect _you_."

Edna took a breath, and looked at Lilli again. Her eyes were vibrant with the spark of energy Lilli had always known. The girl was at the edge of her seat, heart racing. Her doubt was hanging by a thread. Could she dare believe?

"Lilli... I want to be better. I want to stop being afraid. I'm ready to face whatever tomorrow brings. For both of us."

Edna held out a hand. Her smile was hopeful and earnest.

"If you let me... I can be the family you deserve."

Lilli stared at the hand, hesitant. Then, ever so slowly, she reached out to take it. She paused only once out of uncertainty, before her tiny hand clasped into Edna's. For a moment she waited, rubbing her thumb against the coarse skin of the teenager's knuckles. She did this for a few seconds before her lip started to tremble.

"I want to believe." She said. Her long-suffering throat cracked slightly. "I really, really do... but everything's gone crazy... I'VE gone crazy!"

Edna's face faltered as Lilli started crying again, messily wiping at the tears gushing down her face.

"I'm sick, and I don't know what's real or not anymore...!" Lilli cried. "What if more people get hurt because of me? What if I... I..."

Suddenly, Edna pulled Lilli into a hug, wrapping her arms around her tight. The surprised child's face pressed into Edna's shoulder as the older girl's rough and dirt-stained hands gently caressed Lilli's golden locks.

"We'll figure it out." Edna whispered, her cheek nuzzling the side of Lilli's head. "It's not gonna be easy, and it's not gonna be fun. It could take years, or even our entire lives. But you don't have to be scared, Lilli... I'll be there, struggling right at your side. I'll be helping you, and you'll be helping me. We'll put it together if we stay together..."

As Lilli's tiny body was enveloped by Edna's taller frame, she could feel a blanket of warmth around her. She could hear the shaking breaths in Edna's voice, and the sound of her heart beating close. Lilli started to cry again, but not out of anguish. Her tears cleansed her of all doubt as a wave of comfort, relief, and understanding washed through her. Shaking with joy, Lilli returned the hug, burying herself in the arms of the one she loved. The real Edna Konrad she had been fighting for.

Edna smiled. "Hey, you."

Not even the sound of over a dozen police sirens passing by could disturb their embrace. Harvey watched as car after car sped by, racing up the mountain towards the asylum. Normally he would have been squealing in delight at the sight of Doctor Marcel's fortress being besieged. But the rabbit merely observed in silence. This wasn't a moment for him.

He smiled as he sat quietly, listening to Edna and Lilli laugh and cry behind him.

It was a sad smile.


	10. IMPORTANT NOTICE

Hey guys, I just wanted to give you a quick update on the current state of the story. Chapter ten is nearly complete, but I've decided to put it on hold for just a short while to re-visit chapter nine. I know a lot of you enjoyed it, but personally, I'm not satisfied with how it turned out. I realized in the middle of writing a certain scene in chapter ten that, after everything that had happened, having the characters sit down and talk about their feelings was a bit... anticlimactic. Or, I should say, it happened sooner than it was supposed to. In my Creative Writing classes, I've learned two things: one is that I use too many adverbs, and second is that it's always important to _show_ rather than _tell_.

When I look at chapter nine (the parts where Edna is talking to Lilli, I mean), it feels more like a character essay. I get what I was intending to do- have Edna finally get everything off her chest and make a resolution to be a better person. But to be honest, it just doesn't feel like a satisfying conclusion to either of the girls' arcs, Lilli's especially. I recently read the Edna and Harvey comic book by Poki and Irina Zinner from 2015, and it reminded me that the series likes to show it's drama through ACTION more than words. There will be a time for when the characters need to take a breath, but not when there are still stakes at hand.

Come to think of it, I'd like to re-write a LOT of the story... but maybe in the future. For now, I need to get the first draft done before even considering the final product.

So overall, thank you all for sticking around and being patient with me. I apologize that you'll have to wait again, but I promise that this time it's not going to take over a year to complete.


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